Friday, December 31, 2010

Genetics of a Migraine

A new study has shown that the accumulation of brain glutamate levels in nerve cell junctions (synapses) causes the initiation of a migraine.

DNA variant on Chromosome 8 between two genes -- PGCP and MTDH/AEG-1 -- have a greater risk for developing migraine

MTDH/AEG-1 regulates the EAAT2 gene: the protein responsible for clearing glutamate from brain synapses.

Reference:
Verneri Anttila, Hreinn Stefansson, Mikko Kallela, Unda Todt, Gisela M Terwindt, M Stella Calafato, Dale R Nyholt, Antigone S Dimas, Tobias Freilinger, Bertram Müller-Myhsok, Ville Artto, Michael Inouye, Kirsi Alakurtti, Mari A Kaunisto, Eija Hämäläinen, Boukje de Vries, Anine H Stam, Claudia M Weller, Axel Heinze, Katja Heinze-Kuhn, Ingrid Goebel, Guntram Borck, Hartmut Göbel, Stacy Steinberg, Christiane Wolf, Asgeir Björnsson, Gretar Gudmundsson, Malene Kirchmann, Anne Hauge, Thomas Werge, Jean Schoenen, Johan G Eriksson, Knut Hagen, Lars Stovner, H-Erich Wichmann, Thomas Meitinger, Michael Alexander, Susanne Moebus, Stefan Schreiber, Yurii S Aulchenko, Monique M B Breteler, Andre G Uitterlinden, Albert Hofman, Cornelia M van Duijn, Päivi Tikka-Kleemola, Salli Vepsäläinen, Susanne Lucae, Federica Tozzi, Pierandrea Muglia, Jeffrey Barrett, Jaakko Kaprio, Markus Färkkilä, Leena Peltonen, Kari Stefansson, John-Anker Zwart, Michel D Ferrari, Jes Olesen, Mark Daly, Maija Wessman, Arn M J M van den Maagdenberg, Martin Dichgans, Christian Kubisch, Emmanouil T Dermitzakis, Rune R Frants, Aarno Palotie. Genome-wide association study of migraine implicates a common susceptibility variant on 8q22.1. Nature Genetics

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