Common neurodevelopmental abnormalities in patients with mental disorders carrying risk variants

Abstract

Advances in genomic analysis technologies have led to the identification of a number of genomic variants that are strongly associated with the pathogenesis of mental disorders. In order to elucidate the pathological mechanisms of mental disorders, it is necessary to unravel the changes in brains caused by these risk variants from various aspects. One of the approaches is the used of iPS cells. As more and more findings are reported by using iPS cells in mental disorder research, it has become clear that neuronal cells derived patients with risk variants share a common phenotype of neurodevelopmental abnormalities such as in neurite elongation, synaptic function, and neuronal migration. Small abnormalities at the molecular and cellular levels in developing brain may be vulnerability for the onset of mental disorders. In this article, we discuss the trend and future of research on mental disorders using iPS cells with risk variants.