Schizophrenia (SZ) is a severe psychiatric disorder with a strong genetic susceptibility. Heritability is estimated to be 70-90% for SZ. Intense efforts using both linkage and association studies to identify susceptibility loci thus far have met only limited success. Recently it has been appreciated that widespread copy number variation (CNV), in the form of duplications and deletions, frequently occurs in the human genome and is a largely unsurveyed source of individual genetic variation. CNV may be an unrecognized source of SZ genetic susceptibility and potentially a confounding influence on prior genetic studies. We propose here to survey the entire nonrepetitive human genome, using arrays with oligonucleotide markers at an average spacing of 1.5 kb, in 1,000 unrelated Ashkenazi Jewish SZ cases and controls as well as in parents of 300 of the SZ cases. Using this population isolate to limit genetic heterogeneity, we will identify large (>100 kb) and small (-15 - 100 kb) CNV, both frequent (>1%) and rare (<1%). We will confirm selected CNV from each of these four classes by quantitative TaqMan PCR. We will characterize breakpoints by long-range PCR followed by DNA sequencing or by FISH to metaphase chromosomes. Using prior high-density SNP genotyping in four genomic regions in these samples, we will investigate linkage disequilibrium patterns between individual CNVs and flanking SNPs. We will compare the CNV of the 300 trios to confirm genetic transmission and, along with the remaining 200 SZ cases and 500 controls, we will code CNV loci. CNVs with overlapping breakpoints will be initially coded as alleles of one locus but will also be evaluated as distinct loci as well. We expect to identify ~1,700 nonredundant CNVs in this study and we will publicly release this data within one month of its generation. These data will be evaluated by joint analysis of trios, cases, and controls for statistically significant evidence of association of one or more CNV loci with SZ. This study will result in a detailed examination of CNV in the Ashkenazim, providing one of the first large-scale evaluations of CNV in humans, and identify CNV loci that may influence SZ susceptibility. Schizophrenia (SZ) is a severe psychiatric disorder that is caused, at least in part, by variation in the DNA of patients'genomes. A new class of variation is the deletion or duplications of stretches of DNA. Using arrays that can scan the human genome for this """"""""copy number variation"""""""", we will examine 1,000 unrelated Ashkenazi Jewish cases and controls as well as in 600 SZ parents. Although SZ is not found at an elevated frequency in individuals of AJ decent, the relative isolation of this population will reduce genome complexity, easing analysis. This study will not only be one of the first large-scale examinations of this type of variation in humans but may also identify variants that may influence whether or not an individual will suffer from SZ.
