Association of MAN2A1 Gene with Neuroplasticity in Schizophrenia

Project no. 30761 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2023

Summary

Background/Aim: Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous psychotic illness that is caused by various genetic and environmental factors. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt in response to internal and external stimuli by changing, reorganizing or growing neural networks. In schizophrenia, alterations in neuroplasticity can result in molecular changes in specific neural networks or modulation of neurotransmitter receptor function. MAN2A1 encodes a glycosyl hydrolase that catalyses the last hydrolytic step in the asparagine-linked oligosaccharide maturation pathway in the Golgi apparatus and has recently been linked to intelligence and general cognitive ability. MAN2A1 is known to be involved in schizophrenia. Aim of this study, therefore was to investigate MAN2A1 gene expression in schizophrenia patients in association with neuroplasticity and relation to CREB1 expression, an important neuroplasticity gene.Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood samples, taken from 47 study group subjects with schizophrenia and 17 healthy subjects as control, were analysed for MAN2A1 and CREB1 gene expressions by a real-time qRT-PCR method, following total RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis. The relative fold gene expressions of the samples were calculated with the 2–∆∆Ct method. Demographic data of the study group subjects were also analysed by using GraphPad Prism.Results: CREB1 gene expression was found to be decreased in the study group subjects when compared to the control group subjects (p<0.05); while, MAN2A1 gene expression was found to be similar between both groups. No significant association was found between the demographic data of the study group subjects and MAN2A1 / CREB1 gene expressions.Conclusion: In this study, no changes in MAN2A1 gene expression could be observed in schizophrenia patients. It will be of interest to further investigate its possible relationship with neuroplasticity with more subjects and advanced techniques.

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