Interestingly, downstreamsignaling partners of NgR pathways,With
No Lysine (K) (WNK1) and Myelin transcription factor 1-like (Myt1l)
have also been found to be altered in schizophrenia patients compared
to controls at the genetic level. WNK1 gene expression has been consistently
reported to be upregulated in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenia
sufferers in genomewide association studies [13,15], suggesting that
it plays a significant role in this disorder. In addition, a copy number variation
meta-analysis study revealed that microduplications disrupting
the Myt1l gene are associated with schizophrenia, in particular
childhood-onset schizophrenia, a rare and more severe form of this
devastating disorder [16]. Furthermore, significant genetic associations
have also been reported between polymorphisms in the Myt1l
gene and schizophrenia in a Chinese population [17], confirming the
potential of Myt1l to be involved in the genetic susceptibility of
schizophrenia. However to date, no case–control genetic association
for either Myt1l or WNK1 genes has been tested in a Caucasian
schizophrenia population.