A linkage study of chromosome 11q in schizophrenia

The long arm of chromosome 11 is of interest in schizophrenia research because of three independent reports of balanced 11q translocations cosegregating with schizophrenia and other major psychiatric illness in pedigrees. In addition, a number of candidate genes for psychosis are located in the translocated regions. These include the dopamine D2 receptor, porphobilinogen deaminase, which has shown an allelic association with schizophrenia, and neural cell adhesion molecule, a cell surface glycoprotein involved in neuronal cell-cell recognition during brain development. To search for a schizophrenia locus on chromosome 11q, we conducted linkage analyses in 12 multiplex pedigrees. Sixteen DNA markers, including the above three candidate genes, were used to screen the entire long arm of chromosome 11. None of these markers were supportive of linkage to schizophrenia regardless of whether the affected phenotype was defined narrowly or broadly, whether high or low penetrance was assumed. Both dominant and recessive models tested more than 130 centimorgans of chromosome 11q, and therefore, the reported translocation regions. The results provide no evidence for a susceptibility locus for schizophrenia on chromosome 11q in these pedigrees.