James A. Knowles
Professor and Associate Chair for Research
Psychiatry & The Behavioral Sciences
Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute
Keck School of Medicine
Research Topics
Discovery of genetic factors that predispose individuals to disease, with a focus on the psychiatric illnesses. We have ongoing projects for the following disorders:
- Panic Disorder
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Nicotine Addiction
- Opiate Addiction
- Major Depression
- Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) / Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH)
Research Overview
Selected Publications
View a complete Google Scholar search
Levinson,D.F., Evgrafov,O.V., Knowles,J.A., Potash,J.B., Weissman,M.M., Scheftner,W.A., DePaulo,J.R., Jr., Crowe,R.R., Murphy-Eberenz,K., Marta,D.H., McInnis,M.G., Adams,P., Gladis,M., Miller,E.B., Thomas,J., and Holmans,P. (2007). Genetics of recurrent early-onset major depression (GenRED): significant linkage on chromosome 15q25-q26 after fine mapping with single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Am J Psychiatry 164, 259-264.
Samuels,J., Shugart,Y.Y., Grados,M.A., Willour,V.L., Bienvenu,O.J., Greenberg,B.D., Knowles,J.A., McCracken,J.T., Rauch,S.L., Murphy,D.L., Wang,Y., Pinto,A., Fyer,A.J., Piacentini,J., Pauls,D.L., Cullen,B., Rasmussen,S.A., Hoehn-Saric,R., Valle,D., Liang,K.Y., Riddle,M.A., and Nestadt,G. (2007). Significant linkage to compulsive hoarding on chromosome 14 in families with obsessive-compulsive disorder: results from the OCD Collaborative Genetics Study. Am J Psychiatry 164, 493-499.
Fyer,A.J., Hamilton,S.P., Durner,M., Haghighi,F., Heiman,G.A., Costa,R., Evgrafov,O., Adams,P., De Leon,A.B., Taveras,N., Klein,D.F., Hodge,S.E., Weissman,M.M., and Knowles,J.A. (2006). A third-pass genome scan in panic disorder: evidence for multiple susceptibility loci. Biol. Psychiatry 60, 388-401.
Shugart,Y.Y., Samuels,J., Willour,V.L., Grados,M.A., Greenberg,B.D., Knowles,J.A., McCracken,J.T., Rauch,S.L., Murphy,D.L., Wang,Y., Pinto,A., Fyer,A.J., Piacentini,J., Pauls,D.L., Cullen,B., Page,J., Rasmussen,S.A., Bienvenu,O.J., Hoehn-Saric,R., Valle,D., Liang,K.Y., Riddle,M.A., and Nestadt,G. (2006). Genomewide linkage scan for obsessive-compulsive disorder: evidence for susceptibility loci on chromosomes 3q, 7p, 1q, 15q, and 6q. Mol. Psychiatry 11, 763-770.
Wong,W.K., Morse,J.H., and Knowles,J.A. (2006). Evolutionary conservation and mutational spectrum of BMPR2 gene. Gene 368, 84-93.
Wong,W.K., Knowles,J.A., and Morse,J.H. (2005). Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptor Type II C-Terminus Interacts with c-Src: Implication for a Role in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Am. J Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 33, 438-446.
Roberts,K.E., McElroy,J.J., Wong,W.P., Yen,E., Widlitz,A., Barst,R.J., Knowles,J.A., and Morse,J.H. (2004). BMPR2 mutations in pulmonary arterial hypertension with congenital heart disease. Eur. Respir. J. 24, 371-374.
Hamilton,S.P., Fyer,A.J., Durner,M., Heiman,G.A., Baisre,d.L., Hodge,S.E., Knowles,J.A., and Weissman,M.M. (2003). Further genetic evidence for a panic disorder syndrome mapping to chromosome 13q. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A 100, 2550-2555.
Humbert,M., Deng,Z., Simonneau,G., Barst,R.J., Sitbon,O., Wolf,M., Cuervo,N., Moore,K.J., Hodge,S.E., Knowles,J.A., and Morse,J.H. (2002). BMPR2 germline mutations in pulmonary hypertension associated with fenfluramine derivatives. Eur. Respir. J 20, 518-523.
Deng,Z., Morse,J.H., Slager,S.L., Cuervo,N., Moore,K.J., Venetos,G., Kalachikov,S., Cayanis,E., Fischer,S.G., Barst,R.J., Hodge,S.E., and Knowles,J.A. (2000). Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (Gene PPH1) Is Caused by Mutations in the Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptor-II Gene. Am J. Hum. Genet. 67, 737-744.
