Genetic Polymorphisms in miR-137 and Its Target Genes, TCF4 and CACNA1C, Contribute to the Risk of Bipolar Disorder: A Preliminary Case-Control Study and Bioinformatics Analysis

• Published in: Disease markers Vol. 2022; pp. 1 - 14
• Main Authors: Mokhtari, Mohammad Ali, Sargazi, Saman, Saravani, Ramin, Heidari Nia, Milad, Mirinejad, Shekoufeh, Hadzsiev, Kinga, Bene, Judit, Shakiba, Mansoor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Hindawi 2022; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: 3' Untranslated regions; Binding sites; Bioinformatics; Bipolar disorder; Bipolar Disorder - genetics; Calcium Channels, L-Type - genetics; Case-Control Studies; Computational Biology; Disease; Emotional disorders; Family medical history; Gene expression; Gene polymorphism; Genes; Genetic diversity; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genotype; Genotyping; Health care; Humans; Mental depression; Mental disorders; MicroRNAs; MicroRNAs - genetics; Mood disorders; Mutation; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Restriction fragment length polymorphism; Risk; RNA Splicing Factors - genetics; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Splicing factors; Transcription Factor 4 - genetics; Transcription factors; Untranslated Regions; Iran
• ISSN: 0278-0240; 1875-8630; 1875-8630
• DOI: 10.1155/2022/1886658

Accumulating evidence has suggested that miR-137 and its target genes, CACNA1C, and TCF4, are amongst the most robustly implicated genes in psychiatric disorders. This preliminary study is aimed at investigating the effects of genetic variations in miR-137 (rs1625579A/C), TCF4 (rs1261084C/T), and CACNA1C (rs10774053A/G and rs10466907G/T) on BD susceptibility. We recruited 252 BD patients and 213 healthy subjects as the control group. Genotyping was performed using PCR-RFLP and ARMS-PCR methods. Enhanced risk of BD was found under the codominant homozygous, dominant, and allelic models of TCF4 rs1261084C/T, codominant homozygous and allelic models of CACNA1C rs10466907G/T polymorphisms, as well as codominant homozygous, dominant, recessive, and allelic models of the CACNA1C rs10774053A/G. Moreover, both TT/AG/GT/AA and TT/GG/GT/AC genotype combinations strongly increased the risk of BD in the participants. The bioinformatics analyses revealed that rs1261084C/T and rs10466907G/T created and disrupted binding sites of some miRNAs in the 3′-untranslated region of TCF4 and CACNA1C genes. In contrast, the rs10774053A/G created a new binding site for a major splicing factor and might have an effective role in the function of the CACNA1C protein. We have found that all the studied SNPs are positively associated with BD susceptibility. Replicated studies on different ethnicities are required to confirm these findings.