Cell types underlying schizophrenia identified

The cell types underlying schizophrenia have been identified in a genetic study that looked for commonalities among the different genes already linked to the condition, find researchers at UCL, Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and University of North Carolina (USA). The study, published today , offers a roadmap for the development of new therapies to target the condition. "Understanding which cell types are affected in a disease is of critical importance for developing new medicines to improve their treatment. If we do not know what causes a disorder we cannot study how to treat it," said co-lead author Dr Nathan Skene (UCL Institute of Neurology and Karolinska Institutet). Genetic studies have linked hundreds of genes to schizophrenia, each contributing a small part to the risk of developing the disease. The great abundance of identified genes has made it difficult to design experiments. Scientists have been struggling to understand what is linking the genes together and whether these genes affect the entire brain diffusely or certain components more than others.