Search Here

Junk DNA, that are stretches of DNA called retrotransposons might have a significant role in schizophrenia. According to a new research, LINE–1 retrotransposons are abnormally abundant in the brain with schizophrenia. They modify the expression of genes that are related to schizophrenia during brain development and might be one of the reasons of schizophrenia.

According to researchers, one class of retrotransposons which are named Long Interspersed Nuclear Elements (LINE) comprises a large part of the eukaryotic genome and the same retrotransposons might be contributing to number of disorders and diseases including cancer.

The team of researchers led by Dr Kazuya Iwamoto from the University of Tokyo and Dr Tadafumi Kato from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute showed that the number of LINE–1 copies significantly increase in the post-mortem brains of patients with schizophrenia.

For demonstrating the same, they considered a mouse and macaque models for schizophrenia and iPS cells. They also found that the exposure to environmental risk factors during development and the presence of genetic risk factors for schizophrenia led to increased levels of LINE–1 in neurons.

“Our findings strongly suggest that abnormal, enhanced retrotransposition of LINE–1 in neurons, triggered by environmental factors and/or combined with a genetic risk factor, plays a defining role in schizophrenia,” said authors in the press release.

“This study proposes a brand new mechanism of pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Previously, schizophrenia was regarded as a disease caused by gene-environment interactions, but our study shows that the environment can alter the genome and may contribute to the disease,” explained Tadafumi Kato.

The study is published in the journal Neuron.