shizophrenia gene

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Mouse model of schizophrenia is developed

 

U.S. scientists have genetically engineered the first mouse model

of both the anatomical and behavioral defects involved in

schizophrenia. Johns Hopkins University researchers said their

new mouse model is based on a genetic change relevant to the

disease. Dr. Akira Sawa, an associate professor of psychiatry

and neuroscience, and his colleagues said they took advantage

of the recent discovery of a major risk factor for the disease --

the DISC1 gene -- that makes a protein that helps nerve cells

assume their proper positions in the brain. The researchers

generated mice that make an incomplete, shortened form of the

DISC1 protein in addition to the regular type. That short form

of the protein attaches to the full-length one, disrupting its

normal duties. As the mice mature, they display behaviors that

parallel those observed in schizophrenic patients. Sawa said

the new mouse model will help in exploring how external factors,

such as stress or viruses, might worsen symptoms. " The animals

can also be bred with other strains of genetically engineered

mice to try to pinpoint additional schizophrenia genes, " he

said. The study is reported online in the Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences.

 

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