Genome-Wide Association Study on Three Behaviors Tested in an Open Field in Heterogeneous Stock Rats Identifies Multiple Loci Implicated in Psychiatric Disorders

Overview

Journal Front Psychiatry

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2022 Mar 3

PMID 35237186

Authors

Mustafa Hakan Gunturkun

Tengfei Wang

Apurva S Chitre

Angel Garcia Martinez

Katie Holl

Celine St Pierre

Hannah Bimschleger

Jianjun Gao

Riyan Cheng

Oksana Polesskaya

Leah C Solberg Woods

Abraham A Palmer

Hao Chen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Many personality traits are influenced by genetic factors. Rodents models provide an efficient system for analyzing genetic contribution to these traits. Using 1,246 adolescent heterogeneous stock (HS) male and female rats, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of behaviors measured in an open field, including locomotion, novel object interaction, and social interaction. We identified 30 genome-wide significant quantitative trait loci (QTL). Using multiple criteria, including the presence of high impact genomic variants and co-localization of cis-eQTL, we identified 17 candidate genes () for these traits. Many of these genes have been implicated by human GWAS of various psychiatric or drug abuse related traits. In addition, there are other candidate genes that likely represent novel findings that can be the catalyst for future molecular and genetic insights into human psychiatric diseases. Together, these findings provide strong support for the use of the HS population to study psychiatric disorders.

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