The variant at rs1006737 in the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel (alpha 1c subunit) CACNA1C gene is reliably associated with both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Further imaging genetic investigations on the mediating effect of CACNA1C in schizophrenia can uncover brain circuitries involved in schizophrenia and suggest potential novel targets for intervention.
Since CACNA1C variants have been associated repeatedly with psychosis at a genome-wide level, and preclinical data provide convergent evidence for the relevance of the CACNA1C gene for hippocampal and frontolimbic plasticity and adaptive regulation of stress, our data suggest a potential pathophysiological mechanism conferred by CACNA1C variants that may mediate risk for symptom dimensions shared among bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia.