They found the CULPRIT gene for schizophrenia

Scientists have found a gene associated with schizophrenia…
and can affect the development of brain structures for communication, something that happens during the teenage years, leading to the manifestation of this psychological disorder later in life of the individual.
In particular, researchers from the Medical School of Harvard university, through a major revision of the genomes and the brain structure of a man, discovered a special type of gene C4 (complement component 4), which is most often found in people with schizophrenia compared with those who do not have the disease.
This gene also plays a role in the immune system, leading researchers to conclude that the drugs aimed at neutralizing the C4, may already exist for other uses. The protein is also known to play a role in a process that scientists call “pruning” and it is the elimination of neurons in the brain that are no longer necessary. Previous research has shown that the reduced overall connections between brain neurons, called synapses, is something that is observed in the brains of individuals with higher levels of the gene of C4.
The head of research, dr Steve McCarroll, from the Institute Broad of Harvard, said: “The human genome provides a powerful new way of analysis of the schizophrenia. The understanding of the genetic effects is a way to open the ‘black box’ of what exactly is this disease and start to see themselves biological processes that cause”.
For the purposes of this research, which was published in the scientific journal Nature, scientists analyzed genomes of 65,000 participants and examined 700 brains of deceased individuals.
They found that the more of the protein C4 is activated in the brain of the person, the more likely you are to develop schizophrenia. Experiments with mice have also revealed, that the more the gene for C4 is activated during the development of the brain, the more brain synapses are destroyed in total.
The research will focus on the suppression of excessive operation of the C4 to prevent the destruction of many synapses during development, i.e. during the adolescent age of the individual.
“This study marks a critical turning point for the fight against schizophrenia. It is a study of the changing conditions of the game,” said the head of the Institute of NIMH, dr. Bruce Cuthbert, and added: “Thanks to this genetic revolution, we can finally see perspective on clinical research, early detection, new treatments and even prevention of schizophrenia”.