Astellas Researcher And U.S. Team Find Drug Target For Schizophrenia
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
Chief Researcher Mitsuyuki Matsumoto of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma and a research team from the U.S. National Institutes of Mental Health found a protein that leads to the onset of schizophrenia symptoms including loss of memory and movement disorder. The protein SERB2 was discovered through pharmaceutical research on human and animal genomes. Recent testing on mice found that a genetically modified mouse with surplus amounts of SREB2 was found to develop a lighter weight brain, slower movement and lower information processing ability. NIMH team analyzed DNA samples of schizophrenia patients and further confirmed the role of SREB2 as the disease susceptibility gene. (Click here for more - Japanese language