Understanding the protein function related to mental illness in Japan

Tokyo, Jan 3 (reporter LAN Jianzhong) Japan's National Research Center for psychiatry and neurology has announced that a research team has made clear the role of a protein related to schizophrenia and autism, which can help develop methods for diagnosis and treatment of such diseases The team noted that schizophrenia, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and many other mental diseases are related to a gene encoding protein called "auts2", which is located in the nucleus of nerve cells, but its function has not been clarified Using antibodies that bind to proteins, the team investigated where the auts2 protein works The results showed that in addition to the nucleus, the protein also gathered at the tip of the process which undertakes the information transmission of nerve cells After the team cultured the mice that could not produce the protein, they found that the neurites of the experimental mice became difficult to stretch and bifurcate, which confirmed that the "auts2" protein was indispensable for the normal development of the brain The research team said that in the future, it is ready to further investigate the relationship between "auts2" protein abnormality and mental illness The paper has been published in a new issue of the American online science journal Cell report.