In a study published in the journal
Cell Reports on September 25, scientists identify a new high-confidence Tourette risk gene as well as two probable risk genes. The revelations from this ongoing research - a collaborative effort among NJ Center for Tourette Syndrome (NJCTS), Rutgers University and scientists around the world - will help to unravel causes of Tourette Syndrome (TS) which could help guide effective treatment options. For the past 11 years, NJCTS families have been donating DNA samples to the study in hopes of advancing the cause for treatments and a cure.
In the new study, scientists and clinicians from the United States, Europe and South Korea, report two significant findings: TS is sometimes caused by new and rare damaging mutations in specific genes or through structural mutations, known as copy number variants (CNVs), spanning multiple genes. In addition to "likely" TS risk genes, they found another "high confidence" risk gene called CELSR3.