14 DAY TRIAL // A paper published in the latest online issue of the esteemed scientific journal Nature shows that a single molecular switch plays an important role in increasing a person's chances of developing schizophrenia.
The same switch was also found to be responsible for increasing susceptibility to mood disorders and other similar conditions. Finding out that this switch is capable of influencing the behavior of a protein for creating this vulnerability is tremendous news for experts.
They can now hope to develop new biomarkers based on this discovery. This would in turn help healthcare providers diagnose mental illnesses a lot faster than currently possible. Biomarkers will also provide a means of keeping tabs on the effectiveness of the treatment course being applied.
For the new research, scientists focused their attention on the Disrupted In Schizophrenia gene (DISC1) and the protein it encodes. Previous studies have shown that the two have different roles in underlying how the brain works and develops.
The new work provides an answer for why that is, experts say. Johns Hopkins University psychiatry and behavioral sciences professor Akira Sawa, MD, PhD, led the investigation, PsychCentral reports.
Until now, DISC1 was demonstrated to play two primary roles – regulating the development of cerebral cortex neurons, and controlling these nerve cells' programmed migration patterns. The latter process plays a fundamental role in establishing the architecture of the brain.
A single, specific protein variation was found to govern both of these functions. When this switch is damaged, it can cause serious side-effects. For instance, it may not promote too much neural migration, leaving the brain improperly developed, and ready to develop mental disorders.
The molecular switch's effects were found to span DISC1's function from its role in producing new nerve cells to its involvement in ensuring that they organize neatly in the brain. As such, the structure provides a key target for new research.
A biochemical process called phosphorylation was found to be responsible for the changes the protein suffers. This means that its function is modified when a phosphate group is added to its structure.
“It seems that just one specific protein modification is a key determinant that accounts for the two most important functions of this molecule,” Sawa explains. He and his group have already developed an antibody that could be used to determine if the modified protein exists in the human brain.