The role of READ1 and KIAA0319 genetic variations in developmental dyslexia: testing main and interactive effects

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a complex heritable condition characterized by impaired reading abilities. Two well-replicated candidate risk factors are as follows: (1) regulatory element associated with dyslexia 1 (READ1), which is located in intron 2 of DCDC2 and acts as a binding site for protein regulation of DCDC2 expression; and (2) a three-single-nucleotide polymorphism risk haplotype spanning KIAA0319. Phylogenetically similar READ1 variants showed synergistic effects with the KIAA0319 risk haplotype on reading-related phenotypes in a general population sample. Here we examine the association between different allele classes in READ1, the KIAA0319 risk haplotype and reading-related traits in a cohort of 368 Italian children with DD and their siblings (n=266) by testing both main and non-additive effects. We replicated the deleterious main effects upon both reading accuracy and speed exerted by the longer READ1 alleles. We further supported the interdependence through non-additive, possibly antagonistic, effects between READ1 and the KIAA0319 risk haplotype on reading accuracy. By suggesting the presence of common biological processes underlying reading (dis)ability, these findings represent initial support for a generalist effect of the non-additive interdependence between READ1 and the KIAA0319 risk haplotype. Moreover, our results confirm that using as much information as possible about genetic interdependence among dyslexia-candidate genes can help in clinically assessing the individual risk for DD.