What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Many genetic association studies, mainly genome-wide association studies (GWAS), have been performed to identify genetic risk factors for neuropsychiatric diseases. However, the single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified through this approach only account for a small fraction of the genetic determinants, giving rise to the problem of ‘missing heritability’. A main reason is likely that GWAS cannot assess the contribution of other important genetic polymorphisms, especially DNA repeat expansions. Expansions of simple repeat sequences in genomic DNA have been associated with many hereditary brain disorders, but their association with (normal) brain structure and function is largely unknown. Among expanded repeat disorders polyglutamine diseases are the most prevalent. These diseases are characterized by a trinucleotide (cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG)) repeat expansion in the translated regions of otherwise unrelated genes, resulting in proteins with expanded polyglutamine domains. In this project we strive to elucidate part of this 'missing heritability' problem of complex neuropschiatric disorders by evaluating the role of tandem repeat variations, especially CAG repeat polymorphisms, as modulators of brain structure and function.
What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Neuropsychiatric disorders such as dementia and depression are among the most common diseases worldwide and belong to the top 10 leading causes of disability in high-income countries. However, current treatments are mainly symptomatic and far from optimal. In order to devise more effective therapeutic and preventive strategies a better understanding of their pathogenesis is essential. A vital step in elucidating the pathogenesis of these disorders is to gain more insight into the genetic determinants of normal as well as perturbed brain function. This project will help to identify novel genetic determinants of brain structure and function and, thereby, help to design and develop new treatments for these devastating diseases in the future.
What are the overall objectives?
The key objective of this proposal is thus to evaluate the effects of CAG repeat polymorphisms in polyglutamine disease-associated genes (PDAGs) on brain structure and function, both in healthy controls and Huntington disease (HD) mutation carriers.
