US Pharm. 2012;37(1):40.
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that DNA stays too tightly wound in certain brain cells of subjects with schizophrenia. This suggests that drugs already in development for other diseases may offer a treatment for schizophrenia and other similar conditions. The research, published online in Translational Psychiatry, shows the deficit is especially pronounced in younger people, which indicates that treatment might be most effective early on at minimizing or even reversing symptoms of schizophrenia.
Histones are the structural proteins that DNA wraps around. When histones are acetylated, portions of DNA are exposed so that the genes can be used. The histone-DNA complexes, known as chromatin, are constantly relaxing and condensing to expose different genes, and this balance can shift in ways that can cause or exacerbate disease, the researchers say.
