Genomic and epigenomic analyses of neuronal cells of psychiatric disorders

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Unraveling micro-endophenotypes of psychiatric disorders at the molecular, cellular and circuit levels.
• Project/Area Number: 24116009
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Biological Sciences
• Research Institution: Kumamoto University (2016); The University of Tokyo (2012-2015)
• Principal Investigator: Iwamoto Kazuya 熊本大学, 大学院生命科学研究部(医), 教授 (40342753)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): BUNDO Miki 熊本大学, 大学院生命科学研究部, 准教授 (00597221)
• Research Collaborator: MURATA Yui ; NISHIOKA Masaki ; IKEGAME Tempei ; KIYOTA Emi ; UEDA Junko ; SAIDA Harumi ; MIYAUCHI Taeko ; WATANABE Risa
• Project Period (FY): 2012-06-28 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 死後脳 / 精神疾患 / 体細胞変異 / エピゲノム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, we performed genomic and epigenomic analyses of neuronal cells derived from patients with psychiatric disorders. We revealed cytosine modification status from a small amount of brain neuronal DNA, and identified genomic region showing altered cytosine modification status in patients. We also found the increased LINE-1 copy number in neurons of patients with schizophrenia. We performed ultra-deep sequencing in brain genomic DNA and developed efficient method for detecting somatic mutations. Finally, by applying the developed method, we successfully identified the somatic mutations in monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia-related disorder.

Free Research Field

分子精神医学