Jakarta (ANTARA) – Scientists have identified a protein in the brains of patients with schizophrenia that could be the target of drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
To identify an effective drug, Francesca Rapino, Lee Rubin and colleagues at Harvard University in the United States developed an efficient method for producing large numbers of C4-secreting human astrocytes from stem cells.
In a paper recently published in Stem Cell Reports, the researchers followed up on the screening of 464 drugs and identified a small group of about 20 drugs that reduced C4 secretion from astrocytes. The drug is effective on both healthy astrocytes and astrocytes prepared from schizophrenic stem cells.
Read also: Beware of schizophrenia due to exposure to air pollution
Brain cells called astrocytes regulate immune and inflammatory responses around the brain by secreting immune proteins such as C4. Consequently, astrocytes are prime targets for C4-reducing therapy.
Therapies that lower C4 levels in the brain and reduce inflammation may benefit schizophrenic patients but are not currently available.
In schizophrenia, increased levels of the C4 immune protein have been measured in the brains of patients, and increased C4 levels due to copy number variation are associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia.
Inflammation and overactivation of the immune system in the brain can lead to synapse loss and neuron death, leading to neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases.
This research opens new avenues for the study of the inflammatory response and its regulation in human astrocytes and serves as a platform for the identification of therapeutic drugs in a large-scale screening approach.
Read also: Schizophrenia can strike someone who is deficient in vitamin D
Read also: Boost your brain performance with these simple moves
Read also: Four ways to maintain brain health to avoid ‘burn out’
