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Molecular characterization of suicide by microarray analysis.

Gwadry FG, Sequeira A, Hoke G, Ffrench-Mullen JM, Turecki G

G-BioChem Solutions, Verdun, Canada.

Several lines of evidence support the idea that individuals who commit suicide have a certain biological predisposition, part of which is given by genes. Studies investigating genetic factors increasing suicide predisposition have been limited by current knowledge of the suicide neurobiology and have typically investigated one or a few genes at a time, whereas it is anticipated that several genes account for the total genetic variance mediating suicide. This review focuses on the advantages and the interest of using the microarray technology to investigate the neurobiology of suicide and discusses, by means of a data analysis example, the possible methodological problems and bioinformatic strategies that should be employed in order to separate the signal from the large amount of background noise, which is usually generated in such studies. Microarray expression studies and related platforms are promising tools to gain better insight into the neurobiology of suicide.

Published 26 January 2005 in Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet, 133(1): 48-56.
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