Link between schizophrenia and vascular alterations in the brain uncovered in study

The researchers compared astrocytes derived from schizophrenic patients’ skin cells with others from people without the disease. The researchers conducted two series of tests with astrocytes derived from patients and healthy controls. The first was a proteomic analysis in which all proteins present in each sample were identified in order to detect differences between the two sets of astrocytes. This part was conducted at UNICAMP’s Laboratory of Neuroproteomics.

After the proteomic analysis, the researchers performed functional trials to show that the inflammatory response in the astrocytes from patients with schizophrenia was altered and that the cells secreted substances that affected vascularization. These tests were part of the postdoctoral research of Pablo Trindade.

Reference:

Juliana Minardi Nascimento et al, Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived astrocytes from patients with schizophrenia exhibit an inflammatory phenotype that affects vascularization, Molecular Psychiatry