Genes and schizophrenia
Scientists have clarified the diagnosis
Scientists from the USA have found new evidence of the genetic nature of schizophrenia. The researchers studied the cells of the cerebral cortex of patients with schizophrenia and found that disorders in the regulation of gene activity are associated with the development of the disease.
Schizophrenia is a disease that, according to WHO estimates, affects 21 million people worldwide. This is a serious mental illness that leads to a distortion of the perception of the world and one's own personality, speech and behavior disorders. In recent years, many studies have appeared, during which scientists have identified hundreds of DNA sites associated with the development of the disease.
Scientists from the University of California at Los Angeles conducted a study of the three-dimensional structure of chromosomes from brain cells of patients with schizophrenia using the method of determining the conformation of chromosomes 3C. Scientists have found that most of the DNA sites associated with the disease do not encode information about proteins by itself, as "ordinary" genes do. Researchers have discovered "regulatory elements" – sections of DNA that affect the work of neighboring genes encoding proteins. When they bind to other parts of DNA, the work of a particular gene starts, or, conversely, its work stops. Due to the fact that the DNA strand is very long, it is folded inside the chromosomes in a certain way, and when folded, some of its sections interact with others. At the same time, they can be far apart on the DNA strand and would never have connected if the DNA molecule had not folded.
Thus, scientists have found out that most of the DNA sites that were previously associated with the disease act as regulators of the work of genes, such as, for example, the genes of acetylcholine receptors in neurons. The researchers believe that their work is a serious step in the study of the genetic nature of schizophrenia, and are going to use the same method to look for interactions between different DNA regions that are associated with other mental disorders, such as autism.
The study was published in the journal Nature (de la Torre-Ubieta et al., Chromosome conformation elucidates regulatory relationships in developing human brain)
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24.10.2016