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Dopamine transporter (DAT1) VNTR polymorphism in 12 Indian populations

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Abstract

The dopamine transporter (DAT1) is a membrane spanning protein that binds the neurotransmitter dopamine and performs re-uptake of dopamine from the synapse into a neuron. The gene encoding DAT1 consists of 15 exons spanning 60 kb on chromosome 5p15.32. Several studies have investigated the possible associations between variants in DAT1 gene and psychiatric disorders. The present study aimed to determine the distribution of the variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism in the 3′ untranslated region of DAT1 in 12 Indian populations. A total of 471 healthy unrelated individuals in 12 Indian populations from 3 linguistic groups were included in the present study. The analysis was carried out using PCR and electrophoresis. Overall, 4 alleles of the DAT1 40-bp VNTR, ranging from 7 to 11 repeats were detected. Heterozygosity indices were low and varied from 0.114 to 0.406. The results demonstrate the variability of the DAT1 40-bp VNTR polymorphism in Indian populations and revealed a high similarity with East Asian populations.

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Acknowledgments

This research work was supported by a grant from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (project no. BT/PR3607/SPD/09/261/2003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India

    L. V. K. S. Bhaskar, Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Samiksha Wasnik, Amrita Nandan, Varun Kumar Sharma, Vishwas Sharma, Alla Govardhana Reddy & Lalji Singh

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Connie J. Mulligan

  3. Anthropological Survey of India, 27-Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Kolkata, 700016, India

    Vadlamudi Raghavendra Rao

  4. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai, India

    L. V. K. S. Bhaskar

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  1. L. V. K. S. Bhaskar
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  2. Kumarasamy Thangaraj
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  3. Connie J. Mulligan
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  4. Samiksha Wasnik
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  5. Amrita Nandan
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  8. Alla Govardhana Reddy
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  10. Vadlamudi Raghavendra Rao
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Correspondence to Vadlamudi Raghavendra Rao.

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Bhaskar, L.V.K.S., Thangaraj, K., Mulligan, C.J. et al. Dopamine transporter (DAT1) VNTR polymorphism in 12 Indian populations. Neurol Sci 30, 487–493 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-009-0139-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-009-0139-2

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