Schizophrenic Brain Cells Created in The Lab

The neurological root of schizophrenia continues to baffle researchers, but a new cell model of the disease could provide fresh insights into the condition.

Fred Gage of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California and colleagues took connective tissue cells from people with schizophrenia and programmed them to form stem cells. The team then coaxed these cells into becoming neurons that can be used to better understand their behaviour and to test new drug candidates.

Confirming previous work in cadavers, the neurons (pictured) made fewer connections with each other than would be expected from healthy neurons. Adding the antipsychotic Loxapine improved their connectivity. The new model removes some environmental influences and allows researchers to probe the biology underlying schizophrenia using live cells.

Journal reference: Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature09915

Image Credit: Kristen Brennand / Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Source