Abstract
The sequencing of the human genome and an emerging dense map of markers across the human genome have spawned new approaches to search for risk genes for human diseases with complex genetics. These approaches are particularly relevant to the search for risk genes for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A gene called neuregulin 1 has been reported to be a risk gene for schizophrenia. This article reviews aspects of the genetics, cellular neurobiology, and biochemistry of neuregulin 1 and attempts to integrate several observations from disparate fields into a model for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The model outlines experimental approaches that may, in the future, shed more light on its validity.
Notes
*Some geneticists use the term “haplotype” to indicate a series of alleles on a given strand of DNA. As used here (in its more accurate, technical sense), the term “ancestral haplotype” refers to a segment of DNA in which the alleles have not been interrupted by crossing over and are in linkage disequilibrium.