Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

Protein Gives Clues for Schizophrenia

A protein has been discovered that may give clues as to the basis of schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. "The team of scientists from the Department of Anatomy at the Yong Loon Lin School of Medicine at the NUS said that the protein controls the development of specialised brain cells which, in turn, provide insulation to the nerve signalling network. If these brain cells develop abnormally, the shield that protects nerve fibres can dysfunction or get destroyed. And once this shield is no longer protecting the fibres, nerve pathways are affected and neurological disorders occur" (Ramani, 2005).

Signals that come from different parts of the body could therefore cross over each other and lead to hallucinations. This could explain the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, which are muscular weakness and the uncoordinated movements. It could also explain the delusions, hallucinations, and confusion of thought that often characterize schizophrenia. This protein has been called "juxtanodin" and scientists are stating that knowledge of it is integral to understanding "the myelin sheath that shields the nerve fibres".

This discovery will most likely give way to more research being done on the matter, potentially even leading to more effective medications or preventive measures for these disorders. The research results were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). Funding for this research was provided by the National University of Singapore's faculty's Academy Research Fund, A*Star's Biomedical Research Community and DBS.

The source of this article is MCN International, Channel NewsAsia, written there by Vinita Ramani.

You can access the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/7spnf