are consistent with a number of previous reports showing abnormal apoptotic function in the neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative processes associated with SZ [31–33]. Moreover, our analysis suggested that there might be an inter-chromosomal interaction between the 22q11.2 region and the HLA locus on 6p21, which points to a potential functional connection. Lastly, through mapping differentially expressed genes to the BrainSpan transcriptomes, we found that they converge on two networks of genes co-expressed in the embryonic stage and adolescence, with specific functional clusters critical to neurodevelopment and neuronal functions. Overall, our results indicate that early differentiating neurons derived from iPSCs with 22q11.2 deletions provide a model for studying SZ-related phenomena and uncovering neurodevelopmental disruptions, which could potentially be generalized to the other genetic subgroups.
