Positive Association of TEAD1 With Schizophrenia in a Northeast Chinese Han Population

Abstract

Objective Schizophrenia is a complex and devastating psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic background. However, much uncertainty still exists about the role of genetic susceptibility in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. TEA domain transcription factor 1 (TEAD1) is a transcription factor associated with neurodevelopment and has modulating effects on various nervous system diseases. In the current study, we performed a case–control association study in a Northeast Chinese Han population to explore the characteristics of pathogenic <i>TEAD1</i> polymorphisms and potential association with schizophrenia.Methods We recruited a total of 721 schizophrenia patients and 1,195 healthy controls in this study. The 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene region of <i>TEAD1</i> were selected and genotyped.Results The genetic association analyses showed that five SNPs (rs12289262, rs6485989, rs4415740, rs7113256, and rs1866709) were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls in allele or/and genotype frequencies. After Bonferroni correction, the association of three SNPs (rs4415740, rs7113256, and rs1866709) with schizophrenia were still evident. Haplotype analysis revealed that two strong linkage disequilibrium blocks (rs6485989-rs4415740-rs7113256 and rs16911710-rs12364619-rs1866709) were globally associated with schizophrenia. Four haplotypes (C-C-C and T-T-T, rs6485989-rs4415740-rs7113256; G-T-A and G-T-G, rs16911710-rs12364619-rs1866709) were significantly different between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls.Conclusion The current findings indicated that the human <i>TEAD1</i> gene has a genetic association with schizophrenia in the Chinese Han population and may act as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia.