The rs7208505 Polymorphism and Differential Expression of the SKA2 Gene in the Prefrontal Cortex of Suicide Victims from the Mexican Population.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The main aim of the current study was to investigate whether SKA2 gene expression in the postmortem brain of rs7208505 genotype are altered in suicide victims from a Mexican population. METHODS: In this study, we report a genetic analysis of expression levels of the SKA2 gene in the prefrontal cortex of the postmortem brain of suicidal subjects (n = 22) compared to subjects who died of causes other than suicide (n = 22) in a Mexican population using RT-qPCR assays. Additionally, we genotyped the rs7208505 polymorphism in suicide victims (n = 98) and controls (n = 88) and we evaluate the association of genotypes for the SNP rs7208505 with expression level of SKA2. RESULTS: The results showed that the expression of the SKA2 gene was significantly higher in suicide victims compared to control subjects (p = 0.044). Interestingly, we observed a greater proportion of allele A of the rs7208505 in suicide victims than controls. Even though there was no association between the SNP with suicide in the study population we found a significative association of the expression level from SKA2 with the allele A of the rs7208505 and suicide. CONCLUSION: The evidence suggests that the expression of SKA2 in the prefrontal cortex may be a critical factor in the etiology of suicidal behavior.

HighlightsSuicide victims have a higher level of SKA2 gene expression in the brain's prefrontal cortex than control subjects.The SKA2 rs7208505 is not associated with suicide in the Mexican population studied.Allele frequencies for G are higher than allele frequencies for A in our study population.The allele A of the rs7208505 affects the expression values of the SKA2 gene.