Geneticists may have uncovered a key clue to schizophrenia
Jan 27, 2016 18:10:36 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on Jan 27, 2016 18:10:36 GMT -5
www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-genetic-clue-schizophrenia-20160127-story.html
Snippets of the article follow:
Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard show that immune-related genetic variations linked to schizophrenia play a key role in prompting the "pruning" of brain connections in late adolescence....After conducting genetic tests on nearly 65,000 people, the scientists followed a trail of clues to a group of genes in the MHC called C4 genes....Emory University geneticist Stephen Warren called the new study “transformational ... on many levels.” By showing a link between C4 and synaptic pruning, the new data builds on theories that the over-editing of brain connections in late adolescence might be “a contributing cause” of schizophrenia, he said. That “could, for the first time, establish a molecular explanation for the peculiar age-of-onset aspects of schizophrenia.”
Snippets of the article follow:
Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard show that immune-related genetic variations linked to schizophrenia play a key role in prompting the "pruning" of brain connections in late adolescence....After conducting genetic tests on nearly 65,000 people, the scientists followed a trail of clues to a group of genes in the MHC called C4 genes....Emory University geneticist Stephen Warren called the new study “transformational ... on many levels.” By showing a link between C4 and synaptic pruning, the new data builds on theories that the over-editing of brain connections in late adolescence might be “a contributing cause” of schizophrenia, he said. That “could, for the first time, establish a molecular explanation for the peculiar age-of-onset aspects of schizophrenia.”
