Cited by 1,617Schizophrenia research and treatmentGenetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersGenomic variations and chromosomal abnormalities

De novo mutations in schizophrenia implicate synaptic networks

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Fromer, Menachem, Pocklington, Andrew J., Kavanagh, David H., Williams, Hywel J., Dwyer, Sarah, Gormley, Padhraig, Georgieva, Lyudmila, Rees, Elliott +24 more·2014·Nature

Abstract

Inherited alleles account for most of the genetic risk for schizophrenia. However, new (de novo) mutations, in the form of large chromosomal copy number changes, occur in a small fraction of cases and disproportionally disrupt genes encoding postsynaptic proteins. Here we show that small de novo mutations, affecting one or a few nucleotides, are overrepresented among glutamatergic postsynaptic proteins comprising activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (ARC) and N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) complexes. Mutations are additionally enriched in proteins that interact with these complexes to modulate synaptic strength, namely proteins regulating actin filament dynamics and those whose messenger RNAs are targets of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). Genes affected by mutations in schizophrenia overlap those mutated in autism and intellectual disability, as do mutation-enriched synaptic pathways. Aligning our findings with a parallel case-control study, we demonstrate reproducible insights into aetiological mechanisms for schizophrenia and reveal pathophysiology shared with other neurodevelopmental disorders.

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  • Most children with SCN2A variants fit one of the three main categories, but exceptions include epileptic encephalopathy with choreoathetoid movements, benign infantile seizures with late-onset episodic ataxia, childhood-onset epileptic encephalopathy, and schizophrenia.

    “While most children with SCN2A variants fit into one of these three categories, there are some exceptions, including epileptic encephalopathy with choreoathetoid movements [26,27], benign infantile seizures with late-onset episodic ataxia [28–31], childhood-onset epileptic encephalopathy [32], and schizophrenia [33,34].”

    From Progress in Understanding and Treating SCN2A-Mediated Disorders (2018) · cites this paper as [33]

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  • The human NDR2 gene (STK38l) has been identified as a susceptibility gene for neurodevelopmental disorders, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorder.

    “The human NDR2 gene (STK38l) has been identified as a susceptibility gene for neurodevelopmental disorders, intellectual disability (Madencioglu et al. 2021; Firth et al. 2009), and autism spectrum disorder (Fromer et al. 2014).”

    From The Serine/Threonine Kinase <scp>NDR2</scp> Regulates Integrin Signaling, Synapse Formation, and Synaptic Plasticity in the Hippocampus (2025) · cites this paper as Fromer et al. 2014

    The 'Overlaps between disorders' section reports shared mutation patterns across schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and intellectual disability, but does not identify NDR2/STK38L as an autism susceptibility gene. Searches for NDR2 and STK38L in our copy found no passage making that gene-specific claim; the Fromer et al. citation is attached specifically to the autism portion of the sentence. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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  • Genes in which rare variants increase risk of autism spectrum disorder and developmental disorder are also enriched for schizophrenia common variant associations.

    “We tested for and found that genes in which rare variants increase risk of ASD and DD32,33 are also enriched for schizophrenia common variant associations.”
  • The analysis controlled for 10,360 genes with detectable brain expression to distinguish synaptic signals from general brain expression.

    “We controlled for a set of 10,360 genes with detectable expression in brain tissue measured as Fragments Per Kilobase of transcript per Million mapped reads (FPKM)32 to detect synaptic signals above signals simply reflecting the property of brain expression.”
  • Many severe mutations do not converge on one specific phenotype but instead seem to cause a range of clinical disorders.

    “Thus, many severe mutations do not converge on one specific phenotype but instead seem to cause a range of clinical disorders74,76,80,81,84,87,91.”

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Authors
Fromer, M., Pocklington, A. J., Kavanagh, D. H., Williams, H. J., Dwyer, S., Gormley, P., Georgieva, L., Rees, E., Palta, P., Ruderfer, D. M., Carrera, N., Humphreys, I., Johnson, J. S., Roussos, P., Barker, D. D., Banks, E., Milanova, V., Grant, S. G., Hannon, E., Rose, S. A., Chambert, K., Mahajan, M., Scolnick, E. M., Moran, J. L., Kirov, G., Palotie, A., McCarroll, S. A., Holmans, P., Sklar, P., Owen, M. J., Purcell, S. M., & O’Donovan, M. C.
Affiliations
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Cardiff University (GB)
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
  • Medical University of Sofia (BG)
  • University of Edinburgh (GB)
Corresponding author
Owen, Michael J.
Venue
Nature
Published
2014-01-22
Volume
506
Issue
7487
Pages
179-184
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2023962370
Cited by
1,617
References
43
Citations by year
2026: 39 · 2025: 68 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 91 · 2022: 114 · 2021: 134 · 2020: 127 · 2019: 168 · 2018: 149 · 2017: 193 · 2016: 186 · 2015: 164 · 2014: 120
FWCI
168.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (I01BX002395)
  • Wellcome Trust (089062, WT 098051, WT089062, 098051)
  • Medical Research Council (MR/L010305/1)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (P50MH066392, R01MH071681, R01MH099126)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (R01HG005827)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genomic variations and chromosomal abnormalities
Keywords
schizophrenia, de novo mutations, synaptic proteins, glutamatergic synapses, activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein, NMDA receptor, FMRP, actin filament dynamics, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, neurodevelopmental disorders, synaptic efficacy
MeSH terms
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Cytoskeletal Proteins, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Models, Neurological, Mutation, Nerve Net, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neural Pathways, Phenotype, RNA, Messenger, Schizophrenia, Substrate Specificity, Synapses, Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate, Fragile X Messenger Ribonucleoprotein 1, Exome, Mutation Rate

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