| 1 | Tohoku J. Exp. Med. 2001 Aug 194: 223-8 |
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| PMID | 11725838 |
| Title | Glycoside in schizophrenic patients sera affects behavior of mouse forced swimming. |
| Abstract | We found a glycoside in sera of schizophrenic patients. This glycoside increased climbing of mouse forced swimming and the climbing was decreased by dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SCH-23390 with a dose dependent manner. This glycoside had much reactivity of GALNAc alpha1-3GALNAc, but not that of polymannoses nor that of GAL beta1-3GlcNAc alpha1-serine or threonine. This strongly suggests that the glycoside is an isolated O-glycoside, but not N-glycoside nor O-glycoside having core 1 or 2. The present findings suggest that schizophrenic patients have the special glycoside affecting the D1 receptor activity in their serum. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic |
| 2 | J. Neurosci. Res. 2007 May 85: 1515-27 |
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| PMID | 17394261 |
| Title | Expression pattern of STOP lacZ reporter gene in adult and developing mouse brain. |
| Abstract | Stable tubulin-only polypeptide (STOP) proteins are microtubule-associated proteins responsible for microtubule stabilization in neurons. STOP null mice show apparently normal cerebral anatomy but display synaptic defects associated with neuroleptic-sensitive behavioral disorders. STOP null mice have therefore been proposed as an animal model for the study of schizophrenia. In the present study, the expression pattern of STOP gene in developing and adult brain has been examined by using lacZ gene inserted in the STOP locus, as a reporter gene. beta-GALactosidase (beta-GAL) immunostaining was confined to neuronal cells and projections. Strong labeling was observed in the whole olfactory system, cortical layer VII, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, habenula, fasciculus retroflexus, and interpeduncular nucleus in adults. Additionally, ventral thalamic nucleus, clusters of positive cells in striatum, and Cajal-Retzius cells of cortical layer I were labeled in young mice. The strong expression of STOP lacZ reporter gene observed in brain is confined to areas that may be involved in the schizophrenia-related symptoms observed in STOP-deficient mice. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic |
| 3 | Int. J. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011 Jun 14: 644-54 |
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| PMID | 20701827 |
| Title | Effects of adjunct galantamine to risperidone, or haloperidol, in animal models of antipsychotic activity and extrapyramidal side-effect liability: involvement of the cholinergic muscarinic receptor. |
| Abstract | The acetylcholine esterase inhibitor/cholinergic nicotinic receptor (nAChR) allosteric modulator GALantamine (GAL) is used against cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease. Negative/cognitive and psychotic symptom improvement in schizophrenia by adjunct GAL to antipsychotic drugs (APDs) has been reported. Cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia may involve brain prefrontal hypo-dopaminergia. Experimental data by others indicate nAChR involvement in animal pro-cognitive effects of GAL. The role of nAChRs in antipsychotic effects by GAL has, however, not been elucidated. Using the conditioned avoidance response (CAR) and the catalepsy tests for antipsychotic activity and extrapyramidal side-effect (EPS) liability, respectively, we here investigated the effects of adjunct GAL (1.25 mg/kg) to the typical APD haloperidol (Hal) (0.05 mg/kg), or the atypical APD risperidone (Ris) (0.2 mg/kg), in rats. Adjunct GAL significantly enhanced APD-like effects by low doses of Hal or Ris, but showed a safe EPS liability profile only in combination with Ris. Pretreatment with the muscarinic receptor (mAChR) antagonist scopolamine, but not the nAChR antagonist mecamylamine, completely reversed the enhancing effects of adjunct GAL to Hal treatment, in the CAR test. While the nAChR-modulating properties of GAL probably contribute to pro-cognitive activity, as shown by others, the present data suggest that any contribution to antipsychotic activity by GAL is mediated primarily via mAChRs. This property combination of GAL may offer a unique, favourable therapeutic profile for schizophrenia treatment. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic |
| 4 | Mol. Psychiatry 2012 Jan 17: 36-48 |
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| PMID | 21042317 |
| Title | Genome-wide association study of major depressive disorder: new results, meta-analysis, and lessons learned. |
| Abstract | Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common complex disorder with a partly genetic etiology. We conducted a genome-wide association study of the MDD2000+ sample (2431 cases, 3673 screened controls and >1?M imputed single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)). No SNPs achieved genome-wide significance either in the MDD2000+ study, or in meta-analysis with two other studies totaling 5763 cases and 6901 controls. These results imply that common variants of intermediate or large effect do not have main effects in the genetic architecture of MDD. Suggestive but notable results were (a) gene-based tests suggesting roles for adenylate cyclase 3 (ADCY3, 2p23.3) and GALanin (GAL, 11q13.3); published functional evidence relates both of these to MDD and serotonergic signaling; (b) support for the bipolar disorder risk variant SNP rs1006737 in CACNA1C (P=0.020, odds ratio=1.10); and (c) lack of support for rs2251219, a SNP identified in a meta-analysis of affective disorder studies (P=0.51). We estimate that sample sizes 1.8- to 2.4-fold greater are needed for association studies of MDD compared with those for schizophrenia to detect variants that explain the same proportion of total variance in liability. Larger study cohorts characterized for genetic and environmental risk factors accumulated prospectively are likely to be needed to dissect more fully the etiology of MDD. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic |
| 5 | Front Pharmacol 2015 -1 6: 11 |
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| PMID | 25713532 |
| Title | A marine analgesic peptide, Contulakin-G, and neurotensin are distinct agonists for neurotensin receptors: uncovering structural determinants of desensitization properties. |
| Abstract | Neurotensin receptors have been studied as molecular targets for the treatment of pain, schizophrenia, addiction, or cancer. Neurotensin (NT) and Contulakin-G, a glycopeptide isolated from a predatory cone snail Conus geographus, share a sequence similarity at the C-terminus, which is critical for activation of neurotensin receptors. Both peptides are potent analgesics, although affinity and agonist potency of Contulakin-G toward neurotensin receptors are significantly lower, as compared to those for NT. In this work, we show that the weaker agonist properties of Contulakin-G result in inducing significantly less desensitization of neurotensin receptors and preserving their cell-surface density. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies suggested that both glycosylation and charged amino acid residues in Contulakin-G or NT played important roles in desensitizing neurotensin receptors. Computational modeling studies of human neurotensin receptor NTS1 and Contulakin-G confirmed the role of glycosylation in weakening interactions with the receptors. Based on available SAR data, we designed, synthesized, and characterized an analog of Contulakin-G in which the glycosylated amino acid residue, GAL-GALNAc-Thr10, was replaced by memantine-Glu10 residue. This analog exhibited comparable agonist potency and weaker desensitization properties as compared to that of Contulakin-G, while producing analgesia in the animal model of acute pain following systemic administration. We discuss our study in the context of feasibility and safety of developing NT therapeutic agents with improved penetration across the blood-brain barrier. Our work supports engineering peptide-based agonists with diverse abilities to desensitize G-protein coupled receptors and further emphasizes opportunities for conotoxins as novel pharmacological tools and drug candidates. |
| SCZ Keywords | schizophrenia, schizophrenic |