Pharmacopsychiatry 2005; 38 - A230
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-918852

Identification of differentially expressed genes in the brains of suicide victims; a microarray analysis study

A Thalmeier 1, I Giegling 1, I Dietrich 1, B Schneider 2, K Maurer 2, AM Hartmann 1, HJ Möller 1, K Strimmer 3, J Schaefer 3, H Bratzke 4, A Schnabel 4
  • 1Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität LMU München, Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, München
  • 2Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie der Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main
  • 3Institut für Statistik der LMU München
  • 4Zentrum der Rechtsmedizin der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main

Suicide is a major public health problem, causing more than 10.000 deaths in Germany each year. Adoption and family studies indicate that suicidal behaviour has a heritability of about 40–60%, but the responsible genes have yet to be identified. We conducted a large-scale gene expression analysis using cDNA-microarrays to identify new candidate-genes for suicide. RNA was isolated from post mortem brain tissue of subjects who died by suicide and control subjects who died from other causes. The two groups were matched by tissue-pH, age, gender and post mortem interval. RNA quality and integrity was assessed by evaluation of the 18S and 28S ribosomal units. The quantity was measured by determination of absorbance at 260 nm and a RiboGreen assay. After reverse transcription, the obtained cDNA was fluorescently labelled and hybridized to cDNA arrays. We found several genes to be differentially expressed in the cortex of suicide completers. Cross-validation experiments using quantitative RT-PCR are under way.