Human dopamine transporter gene not linked to schizophrenia in multigenerational pedigrees.

A large body of data suggests that perturbations in brain dopaminergic transmission play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Recently, the gene for the human dopamine transporter has been cloned and polymorphisms have been identified. Because mutations of the dopamine transporter gene might underlie the cause of schizophrenia in a subset of families, we undertook a linkage analysis between schizophrenia in 9 families and a dopamine transporter gene polymorphism. Evidence of linkage was not found in most families assuming autosomal dominant or recessive inheritance.