Cancer drugs may help treatment of schizophrenia

The research, published online in the journal Brain, is from a group led by Professor Peter Giese at King's College London, and offers new avenues for drug discovery.

Schizophrenia is one of the most common serious mental health conditions in the UK, and affects about 24 million people worldwide. The illness is a long-term mental health condition that causes a number of psychological symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions as well as behaviour changes. The exact cause of the illness is unknown, although it is generally believed to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

According to the World Health Organization, 90% of people with untreated schizophrenia are in developing countries. Current treatments for schizophrenia include both psychological treatments such as psychotherapy, counselling or cognitive behaviour therapy and/or medication. However, many of the antipsychotic drugs or major tranquillisers used to treat or manage the illness have very bad side-effects.

Professor Giese, based at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's, said: 'For the first time we have found that an enzyme activator called p35 is reduced in patients with schizophrenia and moreover, modelling this reduction in mice led to cognitive impairment typical for this disease. This gives us a better understanding of the changes that occur in the brain during the onset of schizophrenia.'

Proper brain development is ensured, in part, by the activation of a protein in the brain called Cdk5. The activation of Cdk5 requires the presence of an enzyme in the brain, called p35. The research found that in human post-mortem brains, there was approximately 50% less p35 in the brains of patients who had suffered from schizophrenia.

These molecular changes were then modelled and monitored in mice that had been modified to contain a comparable reduction in the p35 enzyme. As a result of this reduction in p35, the mice showed a reduction in synaptic proteins – important in maintaining neural connections – and displayed symptoms associated with schizophrenia, including learning impairments and inability to react to sensory stimuli.

Understanding this signalling pathway and the impact of low levels of p35, is important in finding potential future treatments for the disease.

Professor Giese continues: 'We noted that the reduction in p35 affects the same molecular changes targeted by a cancer drug called MS-275, so we administered this drug to the mice. We were excited to find that MS-275 not only addressed the molecular changes but also alleviated the symptoms associated with schizophrenia.'

He concludes: 'Our findings encourage the future exploration of these types of drugs for treating impaired cognition in schizophrenia.'

The research was funded by the Medical Research Council UK (MRC), the National Institutes of Health (USA), the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds, Germany and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinshaft.

CONTACT
Katherine Barnes
International Press Officer
King's College London
Email: katherine.barnes@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 207 848 3076
Notes to editors:
Schizophrenia is associated with dysregulation of a Cdk5 activator that regulates synaptic protein expression and cognition, Brain, DOI: 1093/brain/awr155

A copy of the paper is available from the King's Press Office, and Professor Giese is available for media interviews on Wednesday and Thursday.

King's College London (www.kcl.ac.uk)

King's College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (2010 QS international world rankings), The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11' and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has nearly 23,500 students (of whom more than 9,000 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 6,000 employees. King's is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly £450 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe; no university has more Medical Research Council Centres.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

Media Contact

Katherine Barnes EurekAlert!

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