How are neurotransmitters and receptors affected in people with schizophrenia? by Connie b. Dellobuono
Answer by Connie b. Dellobuono:
'Jumping Genes or rogue genes ' is linked to Schizophrenia.
Risk and reward: "Jumping genes" may help ensure that every brain is unique, but could also contribute to neurological disorders such as schizophrenia.
Recent research by neuroscientist Fred Gage and colleagues at the University of California (UC), San Diego, has shown that one of the most common types of jumping gene in people, called L1, is particularly abundant in human stem cells in the brain that ultimately differentiate into neurons and plays an important role in regulating neuronal development and proliferation. Although Gage and colleagues have found that increased L1 is associated with mental disorders such as Rett syndrome, a form of autism, and a neurological motor disease called Louis-Bar syndrome, "no one had looked very carefully" to see if the gene might also contribute to schizophrenia, he says.
L1, also known as L1CAM, is a transmembrane protein; it is a neuronal cell adhesion molecule, member of the L1 protein family, of 200-220 kDa, and involved in axon guidance and cell migration with a strong implication in treatment-resistant cancers.
L1CAM has also been designated CD171.
The protein encoded by this gene is an axonal glycoprotein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily of proteins. The ectodomain, consisting of several immunoglobulin-like domains and fibronectin-like repeats (type III), is linked via a single transmembrane sequence to a conserved cytoplasmic domain. This cell adhesion molecule plays an important role in nervous system development, including neuronal migration, and differentiation. Mutations in the gene cause three X-linked neurological syndromes known by the acronym CRASH (corpus callosum hypoplasia, retardation, aphasia, spastic paraplegia and hydrocephalus). Alternative splicing of a neuron-specific exon is thought to be functionally relevant.
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/01/jumping-genes-linked-schizophrenia
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In asthma, rogue genes are blocked by ADAM33.
This gene encodes a member of the ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloprotease domain) family. Members of this family are membrane-anchored proteins structurally related to snake venom disintegrins, and have been implicated in a variety of biological processes involving cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, including fertilization, muscle development, and neurogenesis. This protein is a type I transmembrane protein implicated in asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. Alternative splicing of this gene results in two transcript variants encoding different isoforms.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/311855.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADAM33
How are neurotransmitters and receptors affected in people with schizophrenia?