Cyclic AMP Signaling and Bipolar Disorder

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究项目的长期目标是详细说明cAMP信号系统在双相情感障碍中的可能作用。提出了一个遗传关联研究的多态性在20个不同的候选基因代表的cAMP信号传导组件在人类中，使用良好的特征人群的双相I型障碍和双相II型障碍。选择这些基因是因为现有证据表明cAMP信号可能在双相情感障碍中受到干扰，并且因为cAMP信号是模型生物中许多类型行为（包括学习和记忆）的基础。来自马萨诸塞州总医院和贝勒医学院的研究人员将在这个项目上合作，来自MGH的研究人员将促进来自特征良好的双相情感障碍患者的DNA样本的交换，并协助解释临床相关性，来自贝勒医学院的研究人员将进行遗传分析。这些翻译研究旨在系统地、批判性地检验一个或多个cAMP信号传导基因的改变与双相情感障碍相关的行为异常有因果关系这一假设。公共卫生相关性：双相情感障碍是一种普遍的大脑疾病。这里提出的研究将有助于阐明该疾病的遗传基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goals of this research project are to detail the possible role of the cAMP signaling system in Bipolar Disorder. A genetic association study of polymorphisms in twenty different candidate genes representing the cAMP signaling components in humans is proposed, using well-characterized populations of Bipolar Type I Disorder and Bipolar Type II Disorder. These genes were selected because of existing evidence that cAMP signaling may be perturbed in Bipolar Disorder and because cAMP signaling underlies many types of behavior, including learning and memory, in model organisms. Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Baylor College of Medicine will collaborate on this project, with researchers from MGH facilitating the exchange of DNA samples from well-characterized Bipolar Disorder patients and assisting with the interpretation of clinical relevance, and researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine performing the genetic analyses. These translational studies are designed to systematically and critically test the hypothesis that alterations in one or more cAMP signaling genes are involved causally in the behavioral abnormalities associated with Bipolar Disorder. Public Health Relevance: Bipolar Disorder is a prevalent brain disorder. The studies proposed here will help to elucidate the genetic basis for the disease.