The ANK3 bipolar disorder gene regulates psychiatric-related behaviors that are modulated by lithium and stress

Biol Psychiatry. 2013 Apr 1;73(7):683-90. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.10.016. Epub 2012 Dec 11.

Ankyrin 3 (ANK3) has been strongly implicated as a risk gene for bipolar disorder (BD) by recent genome-wide association studies of patient populations. However, the genetic variants of ANK3 contributing to BD risk and their pathological function are unknown. This study defines a new role for Ank3 in the regulation of psychiatric-related behaviors and stress reactivity that lends support for its involvement in BD and establishes a general framework for determining the disease relevance of genes implicated by patient genome-wide association studies.

 Leussis_BiolPsych2013.pdf