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This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/mp.2016.244.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/mp.2016.244.

There are many web sites that provide access to gene sequences. A table of sites is included, focusing on ion channel genes, in particular the potassium channel.

Abstract Background Analysis of cell-selective gene expression for families of proteins of therapeutic interest is crucial when deducing the influence of genes upon complex traits and disease susceptibility. Presently, there is no convenient tool for examining isoform-selective expression for large gene families. A multigene isoform profiling strategy was developed and used to investigate the inwardly rectifying K+ (Kir) channel family in human leukocytes. Comprised of seven subfamilies, Kir channels have important roles in setting the resting membrane potential in excitable and non-excitable cells. Results Gene sequence alignment allowed determination of "islands" of amino acid homology, and sub-family "centred" priming permitted simultaneous co-amplification of each family member. Validation and cross-priming analysis was performed against a panel of cognate Kir channel clones. Radiolabelling and diagnostic restriction digestion of pooled PCR products enabled determination of distinct Kir gene expression profiles in pure populations of human neutrophils, eosinophils and lung mast cells, with conservation of Kir2.0 isoforms amongst the leukocyte subsets. We also identified a Kir2.0 channel product, which may potentially represent a novel family member. Conclusions We have developed a novel, rapid and flexible strategy for the determination of gene family isoform composition in any cell type with the additional capacity to detect hitherto unidentified family members and verified its application in a study of Kir channel isoform expression in human leukocytes.

Broad-based cognitive deficits are an enduring and disabling symptom for many patients with severe mental illness, and these impairments are inadequately addressed by current medications. While novel drug targets for schizophrenia and depression have emerged from recent large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of these psychiatric disorders, GWAS of general cognitive ability can suggest potential targets for nootropic drug repurposing. Here, we (1) meta-analyze results from two recent cognitive GWAS to further enhance power for locus discovery; (2) employ several complementary transcriptomic methods to identify genes in these loci that are credibly associated with cognition; and (3) further annotate the resulting genes using multiple chemoinformatic databases to identify "druggable" targets. Using our meta-analytic data set (N = 373,617), we identified 241 independent cognition-associated loci (29 novel), and 76 genes were identified by 2 or more methods of gene identification. Actin and chromatin binding gene sets were identified as novel pathways that could be targeted via drug repurposing. Leveraging our transcriptomic and chemoinformatic databases, we identified 16 putative genes targeted by existing drugs potentially available for cognitive repurposing., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Susceptibility to schizophrenia is inversely correlated with general cognitive ability at both the phenotypic and the genetic level. Paradoxically, a modest but consistent positive genetic correlation has been reported between schizophrenia and educational attainment, despite the strong positive genetic correlation between cognitive ability and educational attainment. Here we leverage published genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in cognitive ability, education, and schizophrenia to parse biological mechanisms underlying these results. Association analysis based on subsets (ASSET), a pleiotropic meta-analytic technique, allowed jointly associated loci to be identified and characterized. Specifically, we identified subsets of variants associated in the expected ("concordant") direction across all three phenotypes (i.e., greater risk for schizophrenia, lower cognitive ability, and lower educational attainment); these were contrasted with variants that demonstrated the counterintuitive ("discordant") relationship between education and schizophrenia (i.e., greater risk for schizophrenia and higher educational attainment). ASSET analysis revealed 235 independent loci associated with cognitive ability, education, and/or schizophrenia at p < 5 × 10 -8 . Pleiotropic analysis successfully identified more than 100 loci that were not significant in the input GWASs. Many of these have been validated by larger, more recent single-phenotype GWASs. Leveraging the joint genetic correlations of cognitive ability, education, and schizophrenia, we were able to dissociate two distinct biological mechanisms-early neurodevelopmental pathways that characterize concordant allelic variation and adulthood synaptic pruning pathways-that were linked to the paradoxical positive genetic association between education and schizophrenia. Furthermore, genetic correlation analyses revealed that these mechanisms contribute not only to the etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia but also to the broader biological dimensions implicated in both general health outcomes and psychiatric illness., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Hill (Twin Research and Human Genetics, Vol. 21, 2018, 84-88) presented a critique of our recently published paper in Cell Reports entitled 'Large-Scale Cognitive GWAS Meta-Analysis Reveals Tissue-Specific Neural Expression and Potential Nootropic Drug Targets' (Lam et al., Cell Reports, Vol. 21, 2017, 2597-2613). Specifically, Hill offered several interrelated comments suggesting potential problems with our use of a new analytic method called Multi-Trait Analysis of GWAS (MTAG) (Turley et al., Nature Genetics, Vol. 50, 2018, 229-237). In this brief article, we respond to each of these concerns. Using empirical data, we conclude that our MTAG results do not suffer from 'inflation in the FDR [false discovery rate]', as suggested by Hill (Twin Research and Human Genetics, Vol. 21, 2018, 84-88), and are not 'more relevant to the genetic contributions to education than they are to the genetic contributions to intelligence'.

Intelligence is highly heritable 1 and a major determinant of human health and well-being 2 . Recent genome-wide meta-analyses have identified 24 genomic loci linked to variation in intelligence 3-7 , but much about its genetic underpinnings remains to be discovered. Here, we present a large-scale genetic association study of intelligence (n = 269,867), identifying 205 associated genomic loci (190 new) and 1,016 genes (939 new) via positional mapping, expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping, chromatin interaction mapping, and gene-based association analysis. We find enrichment of genetic effects in conserved and coding regions and associations with 146 nonsynonymous exonic variants. Associated genes are strongly expressed in the brain, specifically in striatal medium spiny neurons and hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Gene set analyses implicate pathways related to nervous system development and synaptic structure. We confirm previous strong genetic correlations with multiple health-related outcomes, and Mendelian randomization analysis results suggest protective effects of intelligence for Alzheimer's disease and ADHD and bidirectional causation with pleiotropic effects for schizophrenia. These results are a major step forward in understanding the neurobiology of cognitive function as well as genetically related neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Recent work has begun to shed light on the neural correlates and possible mechanisms of polygenic risk for schizophrenia. Here, we map a schizophrenia polygenic risk profile score (PRS) based on genome-wide association study significant loci onto variability in the activity and functional connectivity of a frontoparietal network supporting the manipulation versus maintenance of information during a numerical working memory (WM) task in healthy young adults (n = 99, mean age = 19.8). Our analyses revealed that higher PRS was associated with hypoactivity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during the manipulation but not maintenance of information in WM (r2 = .0576, P = .018). Post hoc analyses revealed that PRS-modulated dlPFC hypoactivity correlated with faster reaction times during WM manipulation (r2 = .0967, P = .002), and faster processing speed (r2 = .0967, P = .003) on a separate behavioral task. These PRS-associated patterns recapitulate dlPFC hypoactivity observed in patients with schizophrenia during central executive manipulation of information in WM on this task.

General cognitive function is a prominent and relatively stable human trait that is associated with many important life outcomes. We combine cognitive and genetic data from the CHARGE and COGENT consortia, and UK Biobank (total N = 300,486; age 16-102) and find 148 genome-wide significant independent loci (P < 5 × 10 -8 ) associated with general cognitive function. Within the novel genetic loci are variants associated with neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, physical and psychiatric illnesses, and brain structure. Gene-based analyses find 709 genes associated with general cognitive function. Expression levels across the cortex are associated with general cognitive function. Using polygenic scores, up to 4.3% of variance in general cognitive function is predicted in independent samples. We detect significant genetic overlap between general cognitive function, reaction time, and many health variables including eyesight, hypertension, and longevity. In conclusion we identify novel genetic loci and pathways contributing to the heritability of general cognitive function.

Background: Intrinsic and extrinsic factors, including ultraviolet irradiation, lead to visible signs of skin aging., Objective: We evaluated molecular changes occurring in photoexposed and photoprotected skin of white women 20 to 74 years of age, some of whom appeared substantially younger than their chronologic age., Methods: Histologic and transcriptomics profiling were conducted on skin biopsy samples of photoexposed (face and dorsal forearm) or photoprotected (buttocks) body sites from 158 women. 23andMe genotyping determined genetic ancestry., Results: Gene expression and ontologic analysis revealed progressive changes from the 20s to the 70s in pathways related to oxidative stress, energy metabolism, senescence, and epidermal barrier; these changes were accelerated in the 60s and 70s. The gene expression patterns from the subset of women who were younger-appearing were similar to those in women who were actually younger., Limitations: Broader application of these findings (eg, across races and Fitzpatrick skin types) will require further studies., Conclusions: This study demonstrates a wide range of molecular processes in skin affected by aging, providing relevant targets for improving the condition of aging skin at different life stages and defining a molecular pattern of epidermal gene expression in women who appear younger than their chronologic age., (Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Here, we present a large (n = 107,207) genome-wide association study (GWAS) of general cognitive ability ("g"), further enhanced by combining results with a large-scale GWAS of educational attainment. We identified 70 independent genomic loci associated with general cognitive ability. Results showed significant enrichment for genes causing Mendelian disorders with an intellectual disability phenotype. Competitive pathway analysis implicated the biological processes of neurogenesis and synaptic regulation, as well as the gene targets of two pharmacologic agents: cinnarizine, a T-type calcium channel blocker, and LY97241, a potassium channel inhibitor. Transcriptome-wide and epigenome-wide analysis revealed that the implicated loci were enriched for genes expressed across all brain regions (most strongly in the cerebellum). Enrichment was exclusive to genes expressed in neurons but not oligodendrocytes or astrocytes. Finally, we report genetic correlations between cognitive ability and disparate phenotypes including psychiatric disorders, several autoimmune disorders, longevity, and maternal age at first birth., (Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Early life stress may precipitate psychopathology, at least in part, by influencing amygdala function. Converging evidence across species suggests that links between childhood stress and amygdala function may be dependent upon hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. Using data from college-attending non-Hispanic European-Americans (n=308) who completed the Duke Neurogenetics Study, we examined whether early life stress (ELS) and HPA axis genetic variation interact to predict threat-related amygdala function as well as psychopathology symptoms. A biologically-informed multilocus profile score (BIMPS) captured HPA axis genetic variation (FKBP5 rs1360780, CRHR1 rs110402; NR3C2 rs5522/rs4635799) previously associated with its function (higher BIMPS are reflective of higher HPA axis activity). BOLD fMRI data were acquired while participants completed an emotional face matching task. ELS and depression and anxiety symptoms were measured using the childhood trauma questionnaire and the mood and anxiety symptom questionnaire, respectively. The interaction between HPA axis BIMPS and ELS was associated with right amygdala reactivity to threat-related stimuli, after accounting for multiple testing (empirical-p=0.016). Among individuals with higher BIMPS (i.e., the upper 21.4%), ELS was positively coupled with threat-related amygdala reactivity, which was absent among those with average or low BIMPS. Further, higher BIMPS were associated with greater self-reported anxious arousal, though there was no evidence that amygdala function mediated this relationship. Polygenic variation linked to HPA axis function may moderate the effects of early life stress on threat-related amygdala function and confer risk for anxiety symptomatology. However, what, if any, neural mechanisms may mediate the relationship between HPA axis BIMPS and anxiety symptomatology remains unclear., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Problematic alcohol use in adolescence and adulthood is a common and often debilitating correlate of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Converging evidence suggests that ADHD and problematic alcohol use share a common additive genetic basis, which may be mechanistically related to reward-related brain function. In the current study, we examined whether polygenic risk for childhood ADHD is linked to problematic alcohol use in young adulthood through alterations in reward-related activity of the ventral striatum, a neural hub supporting appetitive behaviors and reinforcement learning., Methods: Genomic, neuroimaging, and self-report data were available for 404 non-Hispanic European-American participants who completed the ongoing Duke Neurogenetics Study. Polygenic risk scores for childhood ADHD were calculated based on a genome-wide association study meta-analysis conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and tested for association with reward-related ventral striatum activity, measured using a number-guessing functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm, and self-reported problematic alcohol use. A mediational model tested whether ventral striatum activity indirectly links polygenic risk for ADHD to problematic alcohol use., Results: Despite having no main effect on problematic alcohol use, polygenic risk for childhood ADHD was indirectly associated with problematic alcohol use through increased reward-related ventral striatum activity., Conclusions: Individual differences in reward-related brain function may, at least in part, mechanistically link polygenic risk for childhood ADHD to problematic alcohol use., Competing Interests: FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES Emily Drabant Conley works for the commercial entity 23andMe, the company that genotyped the DNS samples through research collaboration (no payment). All other authors report no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Identifying mechanisms through which individual differences in reward learning emerge offers an opportunity to understand both a fundamental form of adaptive responding as well as etiological pathways through which aberrant reward learning may contribute to maladaptive behaviors and psychopathology. One candidate mechanism through which individual differences in reward learning may emerge is variability in dopaminergic reinforcement signaling. A common functional polymorphism within the catechol-O-methyl transferase gene (COMT; rs4680, Val(158) Met) has been linked to reward learning, where homozygosity for the Met allele (linked to heightened prefrontal dopamine function and decreased dopamine synthesis in the midbrain) has been associated with relatively increased reward learning. Here, we used a probabilistic reward learning task to asses response bias, a behavioral form of reward learning, across three separate samples that were combined for analyses (age: 21.80 ± 3.95; n = 392; 268 female; European-American: n = 208). We replicate prior reports that COMT rs4680 Met allele homozygosity is associated with increased reward learning in European-American participants (β = 0.20, t = 2.75, P < 0.01; ΔR(2) = 0.04). Moreover, a meta-analysis of 4 studies, including the current one, confirmed the association between COMT rs4680 genotype and reward learning (95% CI -0.11 to -0.03; z = 3.2; P < 0.01). These results suggest that variability in dopamine signaling associated with COMT rs4680 influences individual differences in reward which may potentially contribute to psychopathology characterized by reward dysfunction., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.)

Opioid dependence, a severe addictive disorder and major societal problem, has been demonstrated to be moderately heritable. We conducted a genome-wide association study in Comorbidity and Trauma Study data comparing opioid-dependent daily injectors (N=1167) with opioid misusers who never progressed to daily injection (N=161). The strongest associations, observed for CNIH3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), were confirmed in two independent samples, the Yale-Penn genetic studies of opioid, cocaine and alcohol dependence and the Study of Addiction: Genetics and Environment, which both contain non-dependent opioid misusers and opioid-dependent individuals. Meta-analyses found five genome-wide significant CNIH3 SNPs. The A allele of rs10799590, the most highly associated SNP, was robustly protective (P=4.30E-9; odds ratio 0.64 (95% confidence interval 0.55-0.74)). Epigenetic annotation predicts that this SNP is functional in fetal brain. Neuroimaging data from the Duke Neurogenetics Study (N=312) provide evidence of this SNP's in vivo functionality; rs10799590 A allele carriers displayed significantly greater right amygdala habituation to threat-related facial expressions, a phenotype associated with resilience to psychopathology. Computational genetic analyses of physical dependence on morphine across 23 mouse strains yielded significant correlations for haplotypes in CNIH3 and functionally related genes. These convergent findings support CNIH3 involvement in the pathophysiology of opioid dependence, complementing prior studies implicating the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) glutamate system.

Despite evidence for heritable variation in cannabis involvement and the discovery of cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands, no consistent patterns have emerged from candidate endocannabinoid (eCB) genetic association studies of cannabis involvement. Given interactions between eCB and stress systems and associations between childhood stress and cannabis involvement, it may be important to consider childhood adversity in the context of eCB-related genetic variation. We employed a system-level gene-based analysis of data from the Comorbidity and Trauma Study (N = 1,558) to examine whether genetic variation in six eCB genes (anabolism: DAGLA, DAGLB, NAPEPLD; catabolism: MGLL, FAAH; binding: CNR1; SNPs N = 65) and childhood sexual abuse (CSA) predict cannabis dependence symptoms. Significant interactions with CSA emerged for MGLL at the gene level (p = .009), and for rs604300 within MGLL (ΔR2 = .007, p < .001), the latter of which survived SNP-level Bonferroni correction and was significant in an additional sample with similar directional effects (N = 859; ΔR2 = .005, p = .026). Furthermore, in a third sample (N = 312), there was evidence that rs604300 genotype interacts with early life adversity to predict threat-related basolateral amygdala habituation, a neural phenotype linked to the eCB system and addiction (ΔR2 = .013, p = .047). Rs604300 may be related to epigenetic modulation of MGLL expression. These results are consistent with rodent models implicating 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), an endogenous cannabinoid metabolized by the enzyme encoded by MGLL, in the etiology of stress adaptation related to cannabis dependence, but require further replication., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).)

Background: Accurate diagnosis and early detection of complex diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, has the potential to be of great benefit for researchers and clinical practice. We aimed to create a non-invasive, accurate classification model for the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, which could serve as a basis for future disease prediction studies in longitudinal cohorts., Methods: We developed a model for disease classification using data from the Parkinson's Progression Marker Initiative (PPMI) study for 367 patients with Parkinson's disease and phenotypically typical imaging data and 165 controls without neurological disease. Olfactory function, genetic risk, family history of Parkinson's disease, age, and gender were algorithmically selected by stepwise logistic regression as significant contributors to our classifying model. We then tested the model with data from 825 patients with Parkinson's disease and 261 controls from five independent cohorts with varying recruitment strategies and designs: the Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP), the Parkinson's Associated Risk Study (PARS), 23andMe, the Longitudinal and Biomarker Study in PD (LABS-PD), and the Morris K Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Center of Excellence cohort (Penn-Udall). Additionally, we used our model to investigate patients who had imaging scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit (SWEDD)., Findings: In the population from PPMI, our initial model correctly distinguished patients with Parkinson's disease from controls at an area under the curve (AUC) of 0·923 (95% CI 0·900-0·946) with high sensitivity (0·834, 95% CI 0·711-0·883) and specificity (0·903, 95% CI 0·824-0·946) at its optimum AUC threshold (0·655). All Hosmer-Lemeshow simulations suggested that when parsed into random subgroups, the subgroup data matched that of the overall cohort. External validation showed good classification of Parkinson's disease, with AUCs of 0·894 (95% CI 0·867-0·921) in the PDBP cohort, 0·998 (0·992-1·000) in PARS, 0·955 (no 95% CI available) in 23andMe, 0·929 (0·896-0·962) in LABS-PD, and 0·939 (0·891-0·986) in the Penn-Udall cohort. Four of 17 SWEDD participants who our model classified as having Parkinson's disease converted to Parkinson's disease within 1 year, whereas only one of 38 SWEDD participants who were not classified as having Parkinson's disease underwent conversion (test of proportions, p=0·003)., Interpretation: Our model provides a potential new approach to distinguish participants with Parkinson's disease from controls. If the model can also identify individuals with prodromal or preclinical Parkinson's disease in prospective cohorts, it could facilitate identification of biomarkers and interventions., Funding: National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and the Michael J Fox Foundation., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The A allele of the FRAS1-related extracellular matrix protein 3 (FREM3) rs7676614 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was linked to major depressive disorder (MDD) in an early genome-wide association study (GWAS), and to symptoms of psychomotor retardation in a follow-up investigation. In line with significant overlap between age- and depression-related molecular pathways, parallel work has shown that FREM3 expression in postmortem human brain decreases with age. Here, we probe the effect of rs7676614 on amygdala reactivity and perceptual processing speed, both of which are altered in depression and aging. Amygdala reactivity was assessed using a face-matching BOLD fMRI paradigm in 365 Caucasian participants in the Duke Neurogenetics Study (DNS) (192 women, mean age 19.7 ± 1.2). Perceptual processing speed was indexed by reaction times in the same task and the Trail Making Test (TMT). The effect of rs7676614 on FREM3 mRNA brain expression levels was probed in a postmortem cohort of 169 Caucasian individuals (44 women, mean age 50.8 ± 14.9). The A allele of rs7676614 was associated with blunted amygdala reactivity to faces, slower reaction times in the face-matching condition (p < 0.04), as well as marginally slower performance on TMT Part B (p = 0.056). In the postmortem cohort, the T allele of rs6537170 (proxy for the rs7676614 A allele), was associated with trend-level reductions in gene expression in Brodmann areas 11 and 47 (p = 0.066), reminiscent of patterns characteristic of older age. The low-expressing allele of another FREM3 SNP (rs1391187) was similarly associated with reduced amygdala reactivity and slower TMT Part B speed, in addition to reduced BA47 activity and extraversion (p < 0.05). Together, these results suggest common genetic variation associated with reduced FREM3 expression may confer risk for a subtype of depression characterized by reduced reactivity to environmental stimuli and slower perceptual processing speed, possibly suggestive of accelerated aging.

Here we provide novel convergent evidence across three independent cohorts of healthy adults (n = 531), demonstrating that a common polymorphism in the gene encoding the α2 subunit of neuronal voltage-gated type II sodium channels (SCN2A) predicts human general cognitive ability or "g." Using meta-analysis, we demonstrate that the minor T allele of a common polymorphism (rs10174400) in SCN2A is associated with significantly higher "g" independent of gender and age. We further demonstrate using resting-state fMRI data from our discovery cohort (n = 236) that this genetic advantage may be mediated by increased capacity for information processing between the dorsolateral PFC and dorsal ACC, which support higher cognitive functions. Collectively, these findings fill a gap in our understanding of the genetics of general cognitive ability and highlight a specific neural mechanism through which a common polymorphism shapes interindividual variation in "g."

Objective: The purpose of this study was to conduct a proof-of-concept study to evaluate remote recruitment and assessment of individuals ("virtual research visits") with Parkinson's disease who have pursued direct-to-consumer genetic testing., Methods: Participants in 23andMe's "Parkinson's Research Community" were contacted by 23andMe. Fifty willing participants living in 23 states underwent a remote, standardized assessment including cognitive and motor tests by a neurologist via video conferencing and then completed a survey. Primary outcomes assessed were (a) proportion of participants who completed the remote assessments; (b) level of agreement (using Cohen's kappa coefficient) of patient-reported data with that of a neurologist; and (c) interest in future virtual research visits., Results: The self-reported diagnosis of Parkinson's disease was confirmed in all cases ( k  = 1.00). The level of agreement for age of symptom onset ( k  = 0.97) and family history ( k  = 0.85) was very good but worse for falling ( k  = 0.59), tremor ( k  = 0.56), light-headedness ( k  = 0.31), and urine control ( k  = 0.15). Thirty-eight (76%) of the 50 participants completed a post-assessment survey, and 87% of respondents said they would be more or much more willing to participate in future clinical trials if they could do research visits remotely., Conclusion: Remote clinical assessments of individuals with known genotypes were conducted nationally and rapidly from a single site, confirmed self-reported diagnosis, and were received favorably. Direct-to-consumer genetic testing and virtual research visits together may enable characterization of genotype and phenotype for geographically diverse populations., Competing Interests: ERD is an advisor to, and has stock options in, Grand Rounds; is a compensated consultant to Clintrex, mc10, Shire, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; is an unpaid advisor to SBR Health and Vidyo; receives grant support from Auspex Pharmaceuticals, Prana Biotechnology, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Davis Phinney Foundation, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Huntington Study Group, and Great Lakes Neurotechnologies; and has filed a patent application related to neurology and telemedicine. KD, SD, AT and MA have no conflicting interests. EC is an employee of Biogen Idec. SM and EC are employees of 23andMe. NE was an employee of 23andMe. BR and SW were previously employees of Biogen Idec.

Depression risk is exacerbated by genetic factors and stress exposure; however, the biological mechanisms through which these factors interact to confer depression risk are poorly understood. One putative biological mechanism implicates variability in the ability of cortisol, released in response to stress, to trigger a cascade of adaptive genomic and non-genomic processes through glucocorticoid receptor (GR) activation. Here, we demonstrate that common genetic variants in long-range enhancer elements modulate the immediate transcriptional response to GR activation in human blood cells. These functional genetic variants increase risk for depression and co-heritable psychiatric disorders. Moreover, these risk variants are associated with inappropriate amygdala reactivity, a transdiagnostic psychiatric endophenotype and an important stress hormone response trigger. Network modeling and animal experiments suggest that these genetic differences in GR-induced transcriptional activation may mediate the risk for depression and other psychiatric disorders by altering a network of functionally related stress-sensitive genes in blood and brain., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)