生物谷：據(jù)英國《每日郵報(bào)》報(bào)道,，近日科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)了導(dǎo)致人類左撇子的基因,。該基因更易引發(fā)精神分裂癥。
牛津大學(xué)的研究小組日前表示,，攜帶LRRTM1基因的人們左撇子居多,，因?yàn)樵摶驅(qū)Υ竽X平衡能產(chǎn)生一定的影響。這是科學(xué)家首次發(fā)現(xiàn)的控制左撇子右撇子的基因,。
研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，通常右利手的人大腦僅左半球功能較發(fā)達(dá)，具有處理語言的能力,。而左撇子多用左肢,，右半腦接受的刺激相對(duì)多一些，使左撇子帶有右腦思維的傾向,?？茖W(xué)家認(rèn)為這是由LRRTM1基因所致。
同時(shí),，科學(xué)家還認(rèn)為該基因能改善大腦左右半球不協(xié)調(diào)功能,。而攜帶攜帶LRRTM1基因的人們更易患上精神分裂癥。全球大約有1%人口因?yàn)榇竽X左右半球不協(xié)調(diào)和用左右手習(xí)慣而有精神分裂傾向,。Clyde Francks博士說,，這項(xiàng)研究希望能找出LRRTM1基因影響大腦發(fā)育的真正原因。“大腦功能性不對(duì)稱在精神病學(xué)史的一個(gè)基本特征,。”
這項(xiàng)研究小組是由來自全球20個(gè)研究中心的40名科學(xué)家組成,。該研究成果發(fā)表在《分子精神病學(xué)》雜志(Molecular Psychiatry) 上。（搜狐科學(xué)）
原始出處:
Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication 31 July 2007; doi: 10.1038/sj.mp.4002053
LRRTM1 on chromosome 2p12 is a maternally suppressed gene that is associated paternally with handedness and schizophrenia
C Francks1,2, S Maegawa3,21, J Laurén4,21, B S Abrahams5, A Velayos-Baeza1, S E Medland6,7, S Colella1, M Groszer1, E Z McAuley1, T M Caffrey1, T Timmusk8, P Pruunsild8, I Koppel8, P A Lind7, N Matsumoto-Itaba9, J Nicod1, L Xiong10, R Joober11, W Enard12, B Krinsky12, E Nanba3, A J Richardson13, B P Riley5, N G Martin6, S M Strittmatter4, H-J Möller14, D Rujescu14, D St Clair15, P Muglia2, J L Roos16, S E Fisher1, R Wade-Martins1, G A Rouleau10, J F Stein13, M Karayiorgou17, D H Geschwind5, J Ragoussis1, K S Kendler5, M S Airaksinen18, M Oshimura9, L E DeLisi19,20 and A P Monaco1
1Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
2GlaxoSmithKline SpA, Research Centre, Verona, Italy
3Division of Functional Genomics, Research Center for Bioscience and Technology, Tottori University, Yonago, Tottori, Japan
4Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
5Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
6Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Human Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
7Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
8Department of Gene Technology, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia
9Department of Biomedical Science, Regenerative Medicine and Biofunction, Graduate School of Medical Science, Tottori University, Yonago, Tottori, Japan
10Center for the Study of Brain Diseases, CHUM Research Center, Montreal University, Montreal, QC, Canada
11Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology and Human Genetics, McGill University, Douglas Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
12Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
13Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
14Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
15Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland
16Weskoppies Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa
17Laboratory of Human Neurogenetics, Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
18Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
19Department of Psychiatry, New York University, New York, NY, USA
20The Nathan S Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, New York, NY, USA
Correspondence: Dr C Francks, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
21These authors contributed equally to this work.
Received 9 August 2006; Revised 6 June 2007; Accepted 19 June 2007; Published online 31 July 2007.
Left–right asymmetrical brain function underlies much of human cognition, behavior and emotion. Abnormalities of cerebral asymmetry are associated with schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders. The molecular, developmental and evolutionary origins of human brain asymmetry are unknown. We found significant association of a haplotype upstream of the gene LRRTM1 (Leucine-rich repeat transmembrane neuronal 1) with a quantitative measure of human handedness in a set of dyslexic siblings, when the haplotype was inherited paternally (P=0.00002). While we were unable to find this effect in an epidemiological set of twin-based sibships, we did find that the same haplotype is overtransmitted paternally to individuals with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder in a study of 1002 affected families (P=0.0014). We then found direct confirmatory evidence that LRRTM1 is an imprinted gene in humans that shows a variable pattern of maternal downregulation. We also showed that LRRTM1 is expressed during the development of specific forebrain structures, and thus could influence neuronal differentiation and connectivity. This is the first potential genetic influence on human handedness to be identified, and the first putative genetic effect on variability in human brain asymmetry. LRRTM1 is a candidate gene for involvement in several common neurodevelopmental disorders, and may have played a role in human cognitive and behavioral evolution.
Keywords:
handedness, schizophrenia, association, imprinted gene, brain asymmetry
