Effects of genetic variants of ST8SIA2 and NCAM1 genes on seasonal mood changes and circadian preference in the general population

ABSTRACT

ST8SIA2 and NCAM1 are functionally related genes forming polysialic acid (PSA) - neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) complex in suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the regulating site of circadian biological rhythm. In this study, the relationship of ST8SIA2 and NCAM1 with circadian and seasonal rhythms of human behavior was explored. Subjects were 261 healthy Korean adults who were free of any history of clinically significant psychiatric symptoms. The phenotypes were circadian preference and seasonal change of mood and behavior (seasonality) measured by the Composite Scale of Morningness and the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire, respectively. Thirty-four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the ST8SIA2 region and 15 SNPs of NCAM1 were analyzed. A nominally significant association with seasonality and circadian preference was observed in 21 variants of both genes. After corrections for multiple testing, associations of 8 SNPs of ST8SIA2 and 2 SNPs of NCAM1 with seasonality remained significant. Some of these SNPs were also associated with psychiatric disorders in previous studies. This study demonstrated a meaningful and/or suggestive evidence of association between behavioral phenotypes reflecting human biological rhythm and two interplaying genes involved in the plasticity of SCN’s neuronal network.

KEYWORDS:

• ST8SIA2
• NCAM1
• single nucleotide polymorphism
• circadian rhythm
• seasonality
• plasticity

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Funding

This study was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant (2015R1A2A2A01002699) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), and a grant of the Korean Health Technology R&D Project (HI15C0626), Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea. The work of Yongkang Kim and Taesung Park was supported by the Bio-Synergy Research Project (2013M3A9C4078158) of NRF by MSIP, Republic of Korea.