Common schizophrenia alleles are enriched in mutation-intolerant genes and in regions under strong background selection

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric condition often associated with poor quality of life and decreased life expectancy. Lack of progress in improving treatment outcomes has been attributed to limited knowledge of the underlying biology, although large-scale genomic studies have begun to provide insights. We report a new genome-wide association study of schizophrenia (11,260 cases and 24,542 controls), and through meta-analysis with existing data we identify 50 novel associated loci and 145 loci in total. Through integrating genomic fine-mapping with brain expression and chromosome conformation data, we identify candidate causal genes within 33 loci. We also show for the first time that the common variant association signal is highly enriched among genes that are under strong selective pressures. These findings provide new insights into the biology and genetic architecture of schizophrenia, highlight the importance of mutation-intolerant genes and suggest a mechanism by which common risk variants persist in the population.

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Affiliated Institutions

• Institute of Genetics and Cancer GB
• University Clinic of Traumatology AT
• University of California, Los Angeles US
• King's College London GB
• Diakonhjemmet Hospital
• Center for Autism and Related Disorders US
• University of Verona IT
• Broad Institute US
• University of Oslo
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai US
• University of Edinburgh GB
• Massachusetts General Hospital US
• Universidad de Oviedo ES
• deCODE Genetics (Iceland) IS
• The University of Queensland AU
• Tbilisi State Medical University GE
• Mental Health Research Center of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences RU
• The University of Adelaide AU
• Lundbeck Foundation DK
• Universidade de Vigo ES
• University of Münster DE
• University of Belgrade RS
• University of Bergen
• Cardiff University GB
• National University Hospital of Iceland IS

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