Novel Treatments for Neuroimmune-based Psychiatric Disorders
Targets were identified based upon overlap between immune genes in the brains of offspring from mouse and nonhuman primate maternal immune activation models and convergence of epidemiological, genetic and imaging studies in human disorders
Development of new therapies and companion biomarkers Neuroimmune-mediated psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, major depression, and bipolar disorder
Psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder are a major public health problem, affecting a significant portion of the adult population of the United States each year. In addition, several neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, affect an increasingly large segment of our population with recent estimates as high as 1 in 40 boys. In recent years, the role of a dysregulated immune system has been implicated in the etiology of many of these psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Studies have demonstrated that some patients with psychiatric disorders exhibit characteristic signs of an altered immune system, which may be a common pathophysiological mechanism that underlies the development and progression of these disorders. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have identified several molecular targets that are altered in the brains of both rodent and non-human primate models of a risk factor for autism and schizophrenia. Identification of conserved dysregulation of specific molecular pathways between such disparate animal species represents a significant breakthrough that will enable development of new therapies, diagnostic tools, and research methods. These targets show great potential because they were identified using a combination of mouse and nonhuman primate maternal immune activation models, identifying genes in both species that were abnormally expressed in affected animals. The nonhuman primate model is unique to UC Davis.
20170166968
Tech ID/UC Case 24194/2014-852-0 Related Cases 2014-852-0
USA
