Reduced Myelin Basic Protein and Actin-Related Gene Expression in Visual Cortex in Schizophrenia

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 7; no. 6; p. e38211
• Main Authors: Matthews, Paul R., Eastwood, Sharon L., Harrison, Paul J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.06.2012; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Acids; Actin; Actins - genetics; Actins - metabolism; Adult; BASIC (programming language); Biology; Bipolar disorder; Bipolar Disorder - genetics; Brain; Brain research; Brodmann's area; Cancer; Consortia; Cortex (frontal); Cytoskeleton; Demography; Depression (Mood disorder); Depressive Disorder, Major - genetics; Emotional disorders; Female; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation; Genes; Genes, Essential - genetics; Glycoproteins; Humans; Male; Medicine; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Messenger RNA; Middle Aged; Muscle proteins; Myelin; Myelin basic protein; Myelin Basic Protein - genetics; Myelin Basic Protein - metabolism; Myelin proteins; Neuropathology; Neurophysiology; Neurosciences; Oligodendrocyte-myelin glycoprotein; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Phenols; Phosphorylation; Polymerase chain reaction; Polymerization; Protein binding; Proteins; Psychiatry; Psychosis; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - genetics; Studies; Superior cervical ganglion; Thymosin; Trends; Visual cortex; Visual Cortex - metabolism; Visual Cortex - pathology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038211

Most brain gene expression studies of schizophrenia have been conducted in the frontal cortex or hippocampus. The extent to which alterations occur in other cortical regions is not well established. We investigated primary visual cortex (Brodmann area 17) from the Stanley Neuropathology Consortium collection of tissue from 60 subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, or controls. We first carried out a preliminary array screen of pooled RNA, and then used RT-PCR to quantify five mRNAs which the array identified as differentially expressed in schizophrenia (myelin basic protein [MBP], myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein [MOG], β-actin [ACTB], thymosin β-10 [TB10], and superior cervical ganglion-10 [SCG10]). Reduced mRNA levels were confirmed by RT-PCR for MBP, ACTB and TB10. The MBP reduction was limited to transcripts containing exon 2. ACTB and TB10 mRNAs were also decreased in bipolar disorder. None of the transcripts were altered in subjects with major depression. Reduced MBP mRNA in schizophrenia replicates findings in other brain regions and is consistent with oligodendrocyte involvement in the disorder. The decreases in expression of ACTB, and the actin-binding protein gene TB10, suggest changes in cytoskeletal organisation. The findings confirm that the primary visual cortex shows molecular alterations in schizophrenia and extend the evidence for a widespread, rather than focal, cortical pathophysiology.