Search

An optimal social environment is a product of all the individuals and their genes. The cohesive balance of a given social group is relatively flexible and can respond to different environmental conditions. However, it is not as yet clear how this plasticity in individual sociality is mediated. Imprinted genes are exquisitely dosage sensitive, and evidence is mounting for the importance of their function in modulating social behaviors. What is even more intriguing is the apparent modulatory ability of the early life environment on the levels of imprinted gene expression. Whether this is an adaptive response or a "bystander" consequence remains to be seen. Here, we discuss the outcome, and potential benefit, of the flexibility of these genes in a changeable social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imprinted genes, those genes subject to parent-of-origin-specific epigenetic marking resulting inmonoallelic parent-specific expression, are sensitive to subtle changes in expression dosage. This has been illustrated in a number of experimentalmodels and the fact that both decreased (or complete loss) and increased imprinted gene expression can lead to human diseases. In the present paper, we discuss the consequence of increased dosage of imprinted genes for brain function, focusing on the PWS (Prader-Willi syndrome) locus on human chromosome 15q11-q13 and how predicted increases in dosage of maternally expressed imprinted genes from this interval are associated with a higher risk of developing psychotic illness. The evidence for this comes from individuals with PWS itself and also non-syndromic cases of psychosis in carriers of a maternally derived copy number variant spanning this locus. Of the known imprinted genes in this region, the prime candidate is maternally expressed UBE3A, which encodes E6-AP (E6-associated protein) ubiquitin ligase and has an influence on a number of important neurotransmitter systems. Furthermore, these findings point to the fact that brain function is exquisitely sensitive to both decreases and increases in the expression of imprinted genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]