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A genome-wide analysis of more than 15,000 people has revealed an association between a gene and major depression.

Martin Kohli and Elisabeth Binder at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, and their colleagues first compared the genomes of 353 patients with depression with those of 366 controls. They teased out a gene, SLC6A15, that was strongly associated with depression, and went on to replicate this finding in six other independent groups of patients. The gene encodes a transporter protein that moves certain amino acids across the cell membrane of neurons and may be involved in regulating the transmission of glutamate, a neurotransmitter.

The gene variant linked with depression was associated with reduced SLC6A15 expression in the human hippocampus, as well as decreased volume of this brain region.

Neuron 70, 252–265 (2011)