We further show that the associations are not randomly distributed across genes of all classes and function; rather they converge upon genes that are expressed in certain tissues and cellular types. The findings include molecules that are the current, or the most promising, targets for therapeutics, and point to systems that align with the predominant aetiological hypotheses of the disorder. This suggests that the many novel findings we report also provide a aetiologically relevant foundation for mechanistic and treatment development studies. We additionally find overlap between genes affected by rare variants in schizophrenia and those within GWAS loci, and broad convergence in the functions of some of the clusters of genes implicated by both sets of genetic variants, particularly genes related to abnormal glutamatergic synaptic and calcium channel function. How variation in these genes impact function to increase risk for schizophrenia cannot be answered by genetics, but the overlap strongly suggests that common and rare variant studies are complementary rather than antagonistic, and that mechanistic studies driven by rare genetic variation will be informative for schizophrenia.
