NOS1AP in schizophrenia

NOS1AP is an attractive candidate gene for schizophrenia susceptibility. Linkage and association studies from multiple samples drawn from different populations indicate that a schizophrenia susceptibility gene is located in the region of chromosome 1 containing NOS1AP. Increased NOS1AP expression is observed in post-mortem samples from individuals with schizophrenia. NOS1AP binds to neuronal nitric oxide synthase and synapsin, other candidate genes for schizophrenia, and may disrupt signal transduction through the N-methyl d-aspartate receptor complex, leading to hypofunctioning of that system. In this review, I present the evidence supporting NOS1AP as a schizophrenia susceptibility gene, with a focus on explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence obtained from each type of study that has been conducted.