NMDA receptor hypofunction for schizophrenia revisited: Perspectives from epigenetic mechanisms

SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH

卷:217

Article

Snyder, Melissa A.²  Gao, Wen-Jun¹ 

[1] Drexel Univ, Coll Med, Dept Neurobiol & Anat, 2900 Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19129 USA

[2] Ottawa Hosp Res Inst, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, Canada

关键词: NMDA receptor hypofunction;    Prefrontal cortex;    Development;    Schizophrenia;    Epigenetics;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.schres.2019.03.010

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with cognitive deficits manifesting during early stages of the disease. Evidence suggests that genetic factors in combination with environmental insults lead to complex changes to glutamatergic, GABAergic, and dopaminergic systems. In particular, the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), a major glutamate receptor subtype, is implicated in both the disease progression and symptoms of SZ. NMDARs are critical for synaptic plasticity and cortical maturation, as well as learning and memory processes. In fact, any deviation from normal NMDAR expression and function can have devastating consequences. Surprisingly, there is little evidence from human patients that direct mutations of NMDAR genes contribute to SZ. One intriguing hypothesis is that epigenetic changes, which could result from early insults, alter protein expression and contribute to the NMDAR hypofunction found in Si Epigenetics is referred to as modifications that alter gene transcription without changing the DNA sequence itself. In this review, we first discuss how epigenetic changes to NMDAR genes could contribute to NMDAR hypofunction. We then explore how NMDAR hypofunction may contribute to epigenetic changes in other proteins or genes that lead to synaptic dysfunction and symptoms in Si We argue that NMDAR hypofunction occurs in early stage of the disease, and it may consequentially initiate GABA and dopamine deficits. Therefore, targeting NMDAR dysfunction during the early stages would be a promising avenue for prevention and therapeutic intervention of cognitive and social deficits that remain untreatable. Finally, we discuss potential questions regarding the epigenetic of SZ and future directions for research. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.

【 授权许可】

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