Host: The Japanese Pharmacological Society
Name : The 97th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society
Number : 97
Location : [in Japanese]
Date : December 14, 2023 - December 16, 2023
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that develops from the late teens to the 30s. It is characterized by positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, negative symptoms such as emotional flattening, and cognitive impairment. The etiology remains unknown, but both genetic and environmental factors are involved. Current antipsychotic drugs approved as therapeutic agents for schizophrenia improve positive symptoms, but have little effect on negative symptoms and cognitive impairment, and some individuals are treatment resistant. Serious side effects such as extrapyramidal symptoms are also a problem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to elucidate the disease mechanism and to develop novel therapeutic targets accordingly. We are addressing this issue by promoting translational research based on genome analysis in schizophrenia. Specifically, low-molecular-weight G-protein signaling has been suggested as a relevant pathological pathway. We have identified ARHGAP10 gene variants that are strongly associated with the disease, and have generated Arhgap10 gene-modified mice. In this lecture, I will introduce the antipsychotic-like effects of Rho-kinase inhibitors, along with current findings related to the pathological analysis of Arhgap10 gene-modified mice.
