| 16626937 |
Catts VS, Catts SV, McGrath JJ, Feron F, McLean D, Coulson EJ, Lutze-Mann LH: Apoptosis and schizophrenia: a pilot study based on dermal fibroblast cell lines. Schizophr Res. 2006 May;84(1):20-8. Epub 2006 Apr 19.
INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is an increased susceptibility to apoptosis in cultured fibroblasts from patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: Dermal fibroblasts were collected and cultured from three groups: patients with schizophrenia, patients with non-schizophrenic psychosis, and healthy comparison subjects. Susceptibility to apoptosis was measured at the level of degradation product (proportion of cells in the sub-G0 cell cycle fraction in which apoptotic bodies accumulate), pro-apoptotic effector (activated caspase-3), and molecular regulators (P53, Bax and Bcl-2). Cell lines were studied under both basal culture and cycloheximide (an apoptotic inducer) exposure conditions. RESULTS: Consistent with increased susceptibility to apoptosis, the proportion of sub-G0 cells under basal conditions was significantly larger in the schizophrenia group, compared to the non-schizophrenic psychosis group. However when apoptosis was stimulated with cycloheximide, the schizophrenia group showed an attenuated caspase-3 response. The pattern of correlations between regulators, caspase-3 and the proportion of sub-G0 cells was different in the schizophrenia group, consistent with group-specific apoptotic pathway dysregulation. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated anomalous apoptotic mechanisms in schizophrenia, which appear not to affect non-schizophrenia psychosis patients. The detection of these anomalies in fibroblasts suggests that altered apoptosis may be observable in all somatic cell types in schizophrenia. |
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