Immune system gene leads to schizophrenia clue
Excessive synapse pruning linked to protein variant
From the tangled web of schizophrenia biology, scientists have pulled out one tantalizing thread. Variants of a protein that helps snip connections between nerve cells in the brain may contribute to the disorder, scientists report January 27 in Nature.
“It’s not the answer, but it’s an answer,” says psychiatrist and neuroscientist Henry Nasrallah of Saint Louis University School of Medicine. The findings give scientists a clue that may help unravel more insights into how schizophrenia takes hold of the brain, he says.