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Increased expression of MARCKS in post-mortem brain of violent suicide completers is related to transcription of a long, noncoding, antisense RNA

Molecular Psychiatry volume 19, pages 1057–1059 (2014)Cite this article

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A recent study by Le-Niculescu et al.1 implicated several blood biomarkers for predicting and tracking suicidal ideation (SI) in a population at high risk for suicide (diagnosed with bipolar and psychotic disorders). Although the results were provocative, the sample size was small, only male subjects were examined and only nine blood samples were available from suicide completers. An initial discovery differential expression analysis was based on a within-subject comparison of living patients who transitioned from no SI to high SI (n=9). The list of candidate genes was sorted by a convergent functional genomics approach, identifying and prioritizing biomarkers of relevance. Six genes were then confirmed as differentially expressed in the blood of the cohort of suicide completers (n=9). Here, the question arises whether the results in the deceased individuals were related to the post-mortem state per se, as a sample of post-mortem non-suicide (NS) subjects was not examined. Indeed, the results showed that many genes were differentially expressed in comparisons of post-mortem suicides and living subjects not only with no SI but also with high SI. Thus, in order to define gene expression changes as potential biomarkers for suicidality, a comparison between post-mortem samples of actual suicides and NSs is essential. As Le-Niculescu notes, brain tissue represents the ideal biological substrate to test these candidates in relation to suicidal behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Johns Hopkins Medical Campus, Baltimore, MD, USA

    G Punzi, G Ursini, J H Shin, J E Kleinman, T M Hyde & D R Weinberger

  2. Department of Basic Medical Science, Group of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Neuroscience and Sense Organs, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    G Punzi & G Ursini

  3. Section of Forensic Psychiatry and Criminology, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    G Punzi

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    T M Hyde & D R Weinberger

  5. Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    T M Hyde & D R Weinberger

  6. Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    D R Weinberger

  7. Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    D R Weinberger

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  1. G Punzi
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  2. G Ursini
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  3. J H Shin
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  4. J E Kleinman
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  5. T M Hyde
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  6. D R Weinberger
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Correspondence to D R Weinberger.

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Punzi, G., Ursini, G., Shin, J. et al. Increased expression of MARCKS in post-mortem brain of violent suicide completers is related to transcription of a long, noncoding, antisense RNA. Mol Psychiatry 19, 1057–1059 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.41

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