Multiple novel transcription initiation sites for NRG1.

The large neuregulin 1 gene (NRG1) has been mapped to a 1.125 Mb region on chromosome 8p11-21. Three major forms of NRG1 (types I-III), all with distinct amino-termini encoded by unique 5'-exons, have been described. We report here the discovery of nine novel NRG1 exons, including six alternative 5'-exons, increasing the number of potential promoters in NRG1 from three to nine. The novel transcripts of NRG1 described here use the novel 5'-exons which are either coding or non-coding. The functional relevance of the predicted proteins they encode has not been evaluated. Three of the novel 5'-exons are well conserved in syntenic rat and mouse sequences; they encode proteins with novel amino-termini, here termed types IV-VI. NRG1 plays a central role in neural development and is most likely involved in regulation of synaptic plasticity, or how the brain responds or adapts to the environment. The unusually complex gene structure may facilitate spatial and temporal regulation of NRG1 expression, fine-tune NRG1 protein function at different stages during development of the nervous system, and adapt responses to the environment in the adult brain.

Neuregulin 1 and susceptibility to schizophrenia.

The cause of schizophrenia is unknown, but it has a significant genetic component. Pharmacologic studies, studies of gene expression in man, and studies of mouse mutants suggest involvement of glutamate and dopamine neurotransmitter systems. However, so far, strong association has not been found between schizophrenia and variants of the genes encoding components of these systems. Here, we report the results of a genomewide scan of schizophrenia families in Iceland; these results support previous work, done in five populations, showing that schizophrenia maps to chromosome 8p. Extensive fine-mapping of the 8p locus and haplotype-association analysis, supplemented by a transmission/disequilibrium test, identifies neuregulin 1 (NRG1) as a candidate gene for schizophrenia. NRG1 is expressed at central nervous system synapses and has a clear role in the expression and activation of neurotransmitter receptors, including glutamate receptors. Mutant mice heterozygous for either NRG1 or its receptor, ErbB4, show a behavioral phenotype that overlaps with mouse models for schizophrenia. Furthermore, NRG1 hypomorphs have fewer functional NMDA receptors than wild-type mice. We also demonstrate that the behavioral phenotypes of the NRG1 hypomorphs are partially reversible with clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia.