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Scarr E, Udawela M, Thomas EA, Dean B. Changed gene expression in subjects with schizophrenia and low cortical muscarinic M1 receptors predicts disrupted upstream pathways interacting with that receptor. Mol Psychiatry 2018; 23:295-303. [PMID: 27801890 PMCID: PMC5794886 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2016.195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2016] [Revised: 08/24/2016] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that, compared with subjects with no history of psychiatric illness (controls), changes in gene expression in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from two subgroups of subjects with schizophrenia, one with a marked deficit in muscarinic M1 receptors (muscarinic receptor-deficit schizophrenia (MRDS)), would identify different biochemical pathways that would be affected by their aetiologies. Hence, we measured levels of cortical (Brodmann area 9) mRNA in 15 MRDS subjects, 15 subjects with schizophrenia but without a deficit in muscarinic M1 receptors (non-MRDS) and 15 controls using Affymetrix Exon 1.0 ST arrays. Levels of mRNA for 65 genes were significantly different in the cortex of subjects with MRDS and predicted changes in pathways involved in cellular movement and cell-to-cell signalling. Levels of mRNA for 45 genes were significantly different in non-MRDS and predicted changes in pathways involved in cellular growth and proliferation as well as cellular function and maintenance. Changes in gene expression also predicted effects on pathways involved in amino acid metabolism, molecular transport and small-molecule biochemistry in both MRDS and non-MRDS. Overall, our data argue a prominent role for glial function in MRDS and neurodevelopment in non-MRDS. Finally, the interactions of gene with altered levels of mRNA in the cortex of subjects with MRDS suggest many of their affects will be upstream of the muscarinic M1 receptor. Our study gives new insight into the molecular pathways affected in the cortex of subjects with MRDS and supports the notion that studying subgroups within the syndrome of schizophrenia is worthwhile.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Scarr
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia,CRC for Mental Health, Carlton, VIC, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - M Udawela
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia,CRC for Mental Health, Carlton, VIC, Australia
| | - E A Thomas
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, Australia
| | - B Dean
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia,CRC for Mental Health, Carlton, VIC, Australia,Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia. E-mail:
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Udawela M, Scarr E, Boer S, Um JY, Hannan AJ, McOmish C, Felder CC, Thomas EA, Dean B. Isoform specific differences in phospholipase C beta 1 expression in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia and suicide. NPJ Schizophr 2017; 3:19. [PMID: 28560265 PMCID: PMC5441535 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-017-0020-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2016] [Revised: 03/09/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Our previous study demonstrated that phospholipase C beta 1 mRNA was down-regulated in Brodmann's area 46 from subjects with schizophrenia. However, phospholipase C beta 1 protein has also been shown to be lower in Brodmann's area 8 and 9 from teenage suicide subjects, creating a potential confound in interpreting the findings in schizophrenia due to the high suicide rate associated with this disorder. To begin to reconcile and consolidate these findings, in this study, we measured mRNA and protein levels of phospholipase C beta 1 variants a and b in Brodmann's area 46 and Brodmann's area 9 from subjects with schizophrenia, many of whom were suicide completers, and determined the diagnostic specificity of observed findings. Consistent with our previous study, levels of phospholipase C beta 1 a and b mRNA, but not protein, were lower in Brodmann's area 46 from subjects with schizophrenia. In Brodmann's area 9, phospholipase C beta 1a protein levels were lower in subjects with schizophrenia, while phospholipase C beta 1b mRNA was higher and protein was lower in those that had died of suicide. Altered protein levels in Brodmann's area 9 appeared to be diagnostically specific, as we did not detect these changes in subjects with bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder or suicide completers with no diagnosis of mental illness. We further assessed the relationship between phospholipase C beta 1 and levels of muscarinic receptors (CHRMs) that signal through this protein, in both human and Chrm knockout mouse central nervous system tissue, and found no strong relationship between the two. Understanding central nervous system differences in downstream effector pathways in schizophrenia may lead to improved treatment strategies and help to identify those at risk of suicide.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Udawela
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratories, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
| | - E Scarr
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratories, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
| | - S Boer
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratories, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
| | - J Y Um
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratories, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
- Cardiovascular and Neurology Products Division, Drug Evaluation Department, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Osong Health Technology Administration Complex, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea
| | - A J Hannan
- Epigenetics and Neural Plasticity Laboratory, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
| | - C McOmish
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratories, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
| | - C C Felder
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Neuroscience Research Division, Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, IN USA
| | - E A Thomas
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA USA
| | - B Dean
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratories, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC Australia
- Cardiovascular and Neurology Products Division, Drug Evaluation Department, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, Osong Health Technology Administration Complex, Chungcheongbuk-do, South Korea
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Lai CY, Lee SY, Scarr E, Yu YH, Lin YT, Liu CM, Hwang TJ, Hsieh MH, Liu CC, Chien YL, Udawela M, Gibbons AS, Everall IP, Hwu HG, Dean B, Chen WJ. Aberrant expression of microRNAs as biomarker for schizophrenia: from acute state to partial remission, and from peripheral blood to cortical tissue. Transl Psychiatry 2016; 6:e717. [PMID: 26784971 PMCID: PMC5068884 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2015.213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2015] [Revised: 11/11/2015] [Accepted: 11/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Based on our previous finding of a seven-miRNA (hsa-miR-34a, miR-449a, miR-564, miR-432, miR-548d, miR-572 and miR-652) signature as a potential biomarker for schizophrenia, this study aimed to examine if hospitalization could affect expressions of these miRNAs. We compared their expression levels between acute state and partial remission state in people with schizophrenia (n=48) using quantitative PCR method. Further, to examine whether the blood and brain show similar expression patterns, the expressions of two miRNAs (hsa-miR-34a and hsa-miR-548d) were examined in the postmortem brain tissue of people with schizophrenia (n=25) and controls (n=27). The expression level of the seven miRNAs did not alter after ~2 months of hospitalization with significant improvement in clinical symptoms, suggesting the miRNAs could be traits rather than state-dependent markers. The aberrant expression seen in the blood of hsa-miR-34a and hsa-miR-548d were not present in the brain samples, but this does not discount the possibility that the peripheral miRNAs could be clinically useful biomarkers for schizophrenia. Unexpectedly, we found an age-dependent increase in hsa-miR-34a expressions in human cortical (Brodmann area 46 (BA46)) but not subcortical region (caudate putamen). The correlation between hsa-miR-34a expression level in BA46 and age was much stronger in the controls than in the cases, and the corresponding correlation in the blood was only seen in the cases. The association between the miRNA dysregulations, the disease predisposition and aging warrants further investigation. Taken together, this study provides further insight on the candidate peripheral miRNAs as stable biomarkers for the diagnostics of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- C-Y Lai
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,Center of Genomic Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - S-Y Lee
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,Center of Genomic Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - E Scarr
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Y-H Yu
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,Center of Genomic Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Y-T Lin
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - C-M Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - T-J Hwang
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - M H Hsieh
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - C-C Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Y-L Chien
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - M Udawela
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - A S Gibbons
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - I P Everall
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - H-G Hwu
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - B Dean
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, VIC, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - W J Chen
- Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,Center of Genomic Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan,Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, 17 Xu-Zhou Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan. E-mail:
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Merenlender-Wagner A, Malishkevich A, Shemer Z, Udawela M, Gibbons A, Scarr E, Dean B, Levine J, Agam G, Gozes I. Autophagy has a key role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Mol Psychiatry 2015; 20:126-32. [PMID: 24365867 PMCID: PMC4320293 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2013.174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2013] [Revised: 11/06/2013] [Accepted: 11/07/2013] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Autophagy is a process preserving the balance between synthesis, degradation and recycling of cellular components and is therefore essential for neuronal survival and function. Several key proteins govern the autophagy pathway including beclin1 and microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3). Here, we show a brain-specific reduction in beclin1 expression in postmortem hippocampus of schizophrenia patients, not detected in peripheral lymphocytes. This is in contrast with activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) and ADNP2, which we have previously found to be deregulated in postmortem hippocampal samples from schizophrenia patients, but that now showed a significantly increased expression in lymphocytes from related patients, similar to increases in the anti-apoptotic, beclin1-interacting, Bcl2. The increase in ADNP was associated with the initial stages of the disease, possibly reflecting a compensatory effect. The increase in ADNP2 might be a consequence of neuroleptic treatment, as seen in rats subjected to clozapine treatment. ADNP haploinsufficiency in mice, which results in age-related neuronal death, cognitive and social dysfunction, exhibited reduced hippocampal beclin1 and increased Bcl2 expression (mimicking schizophrenia and normal human aging). At the protein level, ADNP co-immunoprecipitated with LC3B suggesting a direct association with the autophagy process and paving the path to novel targets for drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Merenlender-Wagner
- Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - A Malishkevich
- Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Z Shemer
- Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - M Udawela
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - A Gibbons
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - E Scarr
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - B Dean
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - J Levine
- Psychiatry Research Unit, Beer-Sheva, Israel,Mental Health Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel
| | - G Agam
- Psychiatry Research Unit, Beer-Sheva, Israel,Mental Health Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel,Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel,Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology And Psychiatry Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Mental Health Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel E-mail:
| | - I Gozes
- Adams Super Center for Brain Studies, and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel,Department of Clinical Biochemistry, The Lily and Avraham Gildor Chair for the Investigation of Growth Factors, Director, The Adams Super Center for Brain Studies and The Edersheim Levie-Gitter fMRI Institute, Head, the Dr. Diana and Zelman Elton (Elbaum) Laboratory for Molecular Neuroendocrinology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel E-mail:
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Money TT, Scarr E, Udawela M, Gibbons AS, Jeon WJ, Seo MS, Dean B. Treating schizophrenia: novel targets for the cholinergic system. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets 2010; 9:241-56. [PMID: 20053170 DOI: 10.2174/187152710791012062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2009] [Accepted: 12/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Cognitive deficits in patients with schizophrenia are the biggest obstacle to achieving an independent and productive lifestyle, with these deficits being refractory to current drug treatments. Significantly, both nicotinic and muscarinic receptors (cholinoceptors) have been shown to have an important role in cognition and are therefore viewed as potential therapeutic targets for drugs designed to lessen cognitive deficits. Importantly, the demonstration that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, which result in higher synaptic levels of acetylcholine, can reduce the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia suggested that under-stimulation of cholinoceptors could be associated with the cognitive deficits associated with this disorder. This has lead to a focus on the development of receptor agonists, partial agonists and allosteric agonists that can be used to stimulate cholinergic pathways and thus reduce the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. In addition, muscarinic receptors have now been associated with the modulation of dopamine and may constitute an alternative target for the treatment of psychoses. Given these exciting new therapeutic initiatives, this review will outline current evidence that involves the cholinoceptors in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and how these data can inform on approaches to more targeted treatments for the disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- T T Money
- the Mental Health Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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