14 DAY TRIAL // Another piece in the puzzle that is schizophrenia has just been fitted into place, say experts from the University of Toronto, in Canada. A team of experts based here managed to identify a biochemical pathway that appears to contribute to supporting schizophrenia
The research group, which was led by UT professor of physiology Michael Salter, MD, PhD, published a full account of the study in the March 27 advanced online issue of the top journal Nature Medicine.
Salter, also a senior scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), says that the discovery could conceivably be used to develop new therapeutic approaches to treating the brain disorder.
At this time, schizophrenia affects an estimated 24 million people around the world. Developing new therapies would greatly contribute to improving quality of life for all of them.
“This is a paradigm shift in the way that we view the neural mechanisms of schizophrenia. With our discovery we have brought together in a new way pieces of the schizophrenia puzzle,” Salter explains.
“We hope that the understanding we have put together will lead to new forms of treatment that are more effective than the ones that are currently available,” he adds, quoted by PsychCentral.
In the study, experts analyzed how two molecules were influencing the brain receptor N-methyl D-aspartate glutamate receptor (NMDAR), one of the most important such structures in the brain.
The molecules – proteins NRG1 and ErbB4 – were analyzed in animal models, the team says. Experts add that these proteins act the same way in mice as they do in humans. Past investigations connected these two proteins to the neural disorders genetically.
Researchers found that NRG1 and ErbB4 work together to inhibit another protein called Src., which normally boosts NMDAR function, This process usually takes place during learning and memory formation.
The vital boost in NMDAR function – which the brain needs – is therefore blocked by these two proteins. Experts suspected that this was the case, but they thought that the molecules had a direct effect on the receptor.
“The tricky part is that all of these proteins are involved in other functions of the body; we can’t randomly enhance or inhibit them as this would lead to side effects,” Salter says.
“The key will be to develop clever ways to target the proteins in the context of the synapse,” he concludes.