Winning a rare insight into the cause of schizophrenia and possible ways to treat it, scientists in Boston say they have identified a biochemical pathway that contributes to the disease by altering connections between brain cells.
The link between schizophrenia and a protein called complement component 4, or C4, was painstakingly established by combining a genetic screen of more than 65,000 people with laboratory findings in mice and analysis of 700 postmortem brain samples. Researchers said they believe the protein plays a role in signaling which connections between neurons should be “pruned,” or removed, as the brain develops after childhood…
Source: MIT Tech Review