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Planar cell polarity pathway genes and risk for spina bifida
Author(s) -
Wen Shu,
Zhu Huiping,
Lu Wei,
Mitchell Laura E.,
Shaw Gary M.,
Lammer Edward J.,
Finnell Richard H.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
american journal of medical genetics part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.064
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1552-4833
pISSN - 1552-4825
DOI - 10.1002/ajmg.a.33230
Subject(s) - spina bifida , convergent extension , neural tube , xenopus , genetics , biology , gene , neural tube defect , candidate gene , bioinformatics , embryo , gastrulation , embryonic stem cell
Abstract Spina bifida, a neural tube closure defect (NTD) involving the posterior portion of what will ultimately give rise to the spinal cord, is one of the most common and serious birth defects. The etiology of spina bifida is thought to be multi‐factorial and involve multiple interacting genes and environmental factors. The causes of this congenital malformation remain largely unknown. However, several candidate genes for spina bifida have been identified in lower vertebrates, including the planar cell polarity (PCP) genes. We used data from a case–control study conducted in California to evaluate the association between variation within several key PCP genes and the risk of spina bifida. The PCP genes included in this study were the human homologs of the Xenopus genes Flamingo , Strabismus , Prickle , Dishevelled , and Scrib , two of the homologs of Xenopus Wnt genes, WNT5A and WNT11 , and two of the homologs of Xenopus Frizzled , FZD3 and FZD6 . None of the 172 SNPs that were evaluated were significantly associated with spina bifida in any racial/ethnic group after correction for multiple testing. However, several SNPs in the PRICKLE2 gene had unadjusted P ‐value <0.01. In conclusion, our results, though largely negative, suggest that the PRICKLE2 gene may potentially modify the risk of spina bifida and deserves further investigation. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.