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Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization Array CGH for Detection of Genomic Copy Number Variants
Published on: February 21, 2015
Subcortical Brain Alterations in Carriers of Genomic Copy Number Variants
Kuldeep Kumar1, Claudia Modenato1, Clara Moreau1
1Centre de Recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal (Kumar, Harvey, Huguet, Jean-Louis, Douard, Martin, Younis, Tamer, Dumas, Jacquemont); Mila-Quebec AI Institute, University of Montreal, Montreal (Dumas); Laboratoire de Recherche en Neuroimagerie, Department of Clinical Neurosciences (Modenato, Martin-Brevet, Lippé, Draganski), and Service des Troubles du Spectre de l'Autisme et Apparentés (Maillard, Rodriguez-Herreros, Pain), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, and Université de Paris, CNRS UMR 3571, Paris (Moreau); Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles (Kushan, Bearden); School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands (Silva, Linden); Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (Silva, van den Bree, Owen, Hall), Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine (van den Bree, Owen, Hall), and Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute (van den Bree, Linden, Hall), Cardiff University, Cardiff, U.K.; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany (Draganski); Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey (Ching, Moreau, Thompson); Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia (Schultz, Almasy); Lifespan Brain Institute, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine, Philadelphia (Schultz, Almasy); Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Almasy); Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, and Tommy Fuss Center for Neuropsychiatric Disease Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston (Glahn); Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, N.C. (Isaev); Department of Biomedical Engineering, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland (Ragothaman); Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta (Turner); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago (Alpert, Wang); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus (Wang); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford (Ho); Orygen, National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Parkville, Australia, and Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne (Schmaal); NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, and University of Oslo, Oslo (Sønderby, Andreassen); Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo (Sønderby); K.G. Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo (Sønderby, Andreassen); Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago (Gutman).
Objective:
Copy number variants (CNVs) are well-known genetic pleiotropic risk factors for multiple neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders (NPDs), including autism (ASD) and schizophrenia. Little is known about how different CNVs conferring risk for the same condition may affect subcortical brain structures and how these alterations relate to the level of disease risk conferred by CNVs. To fill this gap, the authors investigated gross volume, vertex-level thickness, and surface maps of subcortical structures in 11 CNVs and six NPDs.
Methods:
Subcortical structures were characterized using harmonized ENIGMA protocols in 675 CNV carriers (CNVs at 1q21.1, TAR, 13q12.12, 15q11.2, 16p11.2, 16p13.11, and 22q11.2; age range, 6-80 years; 340 males) and 782 control subjects (age range, 6-80 years; 387 males) as well as ENIGMA summary statistics for ASD, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and major depression.
Results:
All CNVs showed alterations in at least one subcortical measure. Each structure was affected by at least two CNVs, and the hippocampus and amygdala were affected by five. Shape analyses detected subregional alterations that were averaged out in volume analyses. A common latent dimension was identified, characterized by opposing effects on the hippocampus/amygdala and putamen/pallidum, across CNVs and across NPDs. Effect sizes of CNVs on subcortical volume, thickness, and local surface area were correlated with their previously reported effect sizes on cognition and risk for ASD and schizophrenia.
Conclusions:
The findings demonstrate that subcortical alterations associated with CNVs show varying levels of similarities with those associated with neuropsychiatric conditions, as well distinct effects, with some CNVs clustering with adult-onset conditions and others with ASD. These findings provide insight into the long-standing questions of why CNVs at different genomic loci increase the risk for the same NPD and why a single CNV increases the risk for a diverse set of NPDs.
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