Ayhan et al.

Schizophrenia development and onset seems so different compared to other diseases as no one can establish foolproof reasons of how and why exactly people express it. DISC1 is one of the many new genetic factors linked under the etiology of schizophrenia. There are underlying morphological differences in the brain structure of schizophrenics, larger lateral ventricles, disorganized pyramidal neurons in hippocampus, etc. Since DISC1 is found to be important in the normal development of brain function, it provides a great place of scrutinization for abnormal development in schizophrenics. Ayhan et al. compares the effects of the gene’s disruption at different (and both) time periods- pre and post natal. Their results seem to establish and build on time-dependent disruptions (hDISC1) of the nervous system here, including decreased DA levels (last weeks papers) and paravalbumin-positive cells (supports glutamate hypothesis- reduced GABA neurons in PFC). This also goes along with their testing of NMDA antagonists along with amphetamines  as they bring out the full spectrum of schizophrenia symptoms. The use of MRI is great in showing specific structural differences in the brain.

I think looking at different time periods was also a great strategy as it allows us to understand when problems with development lead to schizophrenia. The effects of disruption shows clear differences in symptoms as wel :  Prenatal- smaller brain volume, post- asocial behavior. The biggest finding of their paper is showing that hDISC1 mutants have differential effects on the brain dependent on time of protein expression, both qualitatively and quantitatively, which is supported by enough evidence and a clear sign of the amount of work they put into this paper.

Finding genetic problems means there are possible solutions to these that reduce the activity of polymorphisms in them, treating symptoms at the same time. For example, ANK3 is also found to be linked to schizophrenia and is treated by lithium. Furthermore, disruptions in ANK3 and DISC1 are both linked to other diseases as well, such as bipolar disorder, and maybe treatments for them can by utilized for other diseases as well.