Disease Relevance

• Gene Dosage - The effect of gene dosage changes of this gene are not known in humans, the designation is speculative. The heterozygous knock-out mice appear grossly normal but have reduced locomotor activity and have a reduced locomotor response to amphetamine, caffeine and two psychostimulantdrugs that affect dopamine and adenosine signaling [1].

Psychiatry related information on GNAL

• Sequence and genomic organization of the human G-protein Golfalpha gene (GNAL) on chromosome 18p11, a susceptibility region for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia [2].
• Linkage disequilibrium analysis of G-olf alpha (GNAL) in bipolar affective disorder [3].
• This is a candidate gene for ADHD with preferential transmission of maternal alleles [4].

High impact information on GNAL

• This alternative GNAL transcript encodes a longer functional variant of the stimulatory G-protein alpha subunit, Golf [5].
• These findings increase the relevance of 18p11.2 to schizophrenia susceptibility because GNAL, which has been shown previously to be implicated in schizophrenia in an independent study, is in close physical proximity to IMPA2 [6].
• Knowledge of the sequence and structure of the human GNAL gene provides essential information for further analysis of the GNAL locus at chromosome 18p11 which has been linked to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia [2].
• The human GNAL gene was found to contain 12 coding exons, and it spans over 80 kb on chromosome 18p11 [2].
• Additionally, a processed pseudogene for asparagine synthetase was found about 6 kb upstream of the GNAL gene [2].

References