Molecular psychiatry
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Molecular psychiatry · Aug 2010
DISC1 regulates cell-cell adhesion, cell-matrix adhesion and neurite outgrowth.
Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a promising susceptibility gene for major mental illness. Recent studies have implicated DISC1 in key neurodevelopmental processes, including neurite outgrowth, neuronal migration and proliferation. Here, we report that DISC1 regulates cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion and neurite outgrowth. ⋯ NGF-induced neurite extension was enhanced by DISC1, and anti-beta1-integrin antibody reduced the neurite outgrowth of DISC1-overexpressing cells to the control level. Furthermore, DISC1 also regulated N-cadherin and beta1-integrin expression at the cell membrane in primary neurons. We conclude that DISC1 regulates cell-cell adhesion and cell-matrix adhesion by regulating the expression of adhesion molecules.
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Molecular psychiatry · Jan 2010
The 2009 Nobel conference on the role of genetics in promoting suicide prevention and the mental health of the population.
A 3-day Nobel Conference entitled 'The role of genetics in promoting suicide prevention and the mental health of the population' was held at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institute (KI) in Stockholm, Sweden, during 8-10 June 2009. The conference was sponsored by the Nobel Assembly for Physiology or Medicine and organized by the National Prevention for Suicide and Mental Ill-Health and the Center for Molecular Medicine at KI. The program consisted of 19 invited presentations, covering the genetic basis of mood/psychotic disorders and substance abuse in relation to suicide, with topics ranging from cellular-molecular mechanisms to (endo)phenotypes of mental disorders at the level of the individual and populations. Here, we provide an overview based on the highlights of what was presented.
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Depression constitutes a widespread condition observed in elderly patients. Recently, it was found that several drugs employed in therapies against depression stimulate hippocampal neurogenesis in young rodents and nonhuman primates. As the rate of neurogenesis is dramatically reduced during ageing, we examined the influences of ageing on neurogenic actions of antidepressants. ⋯ No significant effects on neurogenesis could be detected in fluoxetine-treated adult and elderly mice (200 and over 400 days of age). The data indicate that the action of fluoxetine on neurogenesis is highly dependent on the age of the treated individual. Although the function of neurogenesis in the clinical manifestation of depression is currently a matter of speculation, this study clearly shows that the therapeutic effects of antidepressants in elderly patients are not mediated by neurogenesis modulation.