CUX2, a potential regulator of NCAM expression: genomic characterization and analysis as a positional candidate susceptibility gene for bipolar disorder.

Abstract

We have previously reported cosegregation of bipolar affective disorder and Darier disease, a dominant skin disorder with a neuropsychiatric component. The gene for Darier disease was mapped to chromosome 12q23-q24.1 and linkage studies have subsequently implicated this region as harboring a susceptibility gene for bipolar affective disorder. We have genomically characterized the human homologue of murine Cux-2, a neuronal-specific transcription factor potentially involved in the regulation of neural cell adhesion molecule expression that maps to this region. Also, in a panel of 15 unrelated bipolar patients from multiply affected families showing increased allele sharing at markers in the 12q23-q24.1 region, we performed mutational screening of the CUX2 coding sequence, and 5' untranslated region (5' UTR). Resulting sequence were analyzed in a large sample of bipolar patients (n = 218) and control subjects (n = 218). No evidence was found for the involvement of variants within the CUX2 coding, or 5' UTR sequence in producing susceptibility to bipolar disorder.