Project Summary

Andrea Faedo, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of the University of California, San Francisco, will use an animal model to study the role of the Tbr1 gene in glutamatergic neurons, transmission in which plays a role in the development of schizophrenia. Tbrl is a transcription factor gene expressed from embryogenesis to adulthood in glutamatergic neurons, the most abundant class of neurons in the brain. Mice completely deficient in Tbrl die at birth, precluding the study of the role of the gene in adulthood. But evidence from these mice shows that proteins related to glutamatergic transmission diminished during embryogenesis. To study Tbrl loss in adulthood, Dr. Faedo engineered a conditional allele for this gene in an animal, so he can inactivate it at a specific time and in specific locations. He hypothesizes that Tbrl controls diverse aspects of glutamatergic neuron differentiation during development and in adulthood. Results will expand the known molecular mechanisms governing both normal and pathological development of the brain.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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