Evidence for an Association Between a pH-Dependent Potassium Channel, TWIK-1, and the Accuracy of Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements

TL;DR

This study finds a genetic link between the potassium channel TWIK-1 and the accuracy of smooth eye movements in healthy individuals.

Contribution

A strong genetic association between TWIK-1 and smooth pursuit eye movement accuracy is identified for the first time.

Findings

A strong association (P = 3.55 × 10−11) was found between RMSE and chromosomal region 1q42.2.

Each additional copy of the A allele at rs701232 decreased RMSE by 0.29 standard deviation.

The association with TWIK-1 was not affected by a perceptual covariate, suggesting it is not sensory-based.

Abstract

Within the healthy population there is a large variation in the ability to perform smooth pursuit eye movements. Our purpose was to investigate the genetic and physiological bases for this variation.

We carried out a whole-genome association study, recording smooth pursuit movements for 1040 healthy volunteers by infrared oculography. The primary phenotypic measure was root mean square error (RMSE) of eye position relative to target position. Secondary measures were pursuit gain, frequency of catch-up saccades, and frequency of anticipatory saccades. Ten percent of participants, chosen randomly, were tested twice, giving estimates of test-retest reliability.

No significant association was found with three genes previously identified as candidate genes for variation in smooth pursuit: DRD3, COMT, NRG1. A strong association (P = 3.55 × 10−11) was found between RMSE and chromosomal region 1q42.2. The most strongly associated marker (rs701232) lies in an intron of KCNK1, which encodes a two-pore-domain potassium ion channel TWIK-1 (or K2P1) that affects cell excitability. Each additional copy of the A allele decreased RMSE by 0.29 standard deviation. When a psychophysical test of visually perceived motion was used as a covariate in the regression analysis, the association with rs701232 did not weaken (P = 5.38 × 10−12).

Variation in the sequence or the expression of the pH-dependent ion channel TWIK-1 is a likely source of variance in smooth pursuit. The variance associated with TWIK-1 appears not to arise from sensory mechanisms, because the use of a perceptual covariate left the association intact.

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