However, recently, deletions in ULK4 have been genetically linked to increased susceptibility to developing schizophrenia, a devastating neuropsychiatric disease with high heritability but few genes identified.
Excitation/inhibition imbalance has been proposed as a fundamental mechanism in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, in which copy number variations of the Unc-51 like kinase 4 (ULK4) gene encoding a putative Serine/Threonine kinase have been reported in approximately 1/1000 of patients suffering pleiotropic clinical conditions of schizophrenia, depression, autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental delay, language delay, intellectual disability, or behavioral disorder.
ULK4 modulates multiple signalling pathways that include ERK, p38, PKC and JNK, which are involved in stress responses and implicated in schizophrenia.
ULK4 modulates multiple signalling pathways that include ERK, p38, PKC and JNK, which are involved in stress responses and implicated in schizophrenia.