Grant funds study of schizophrenia in young adults
Yale Department of Psychiatry researchers received a $52 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate the cause and effect of schizophrenia in high-risk adolescents and young adults. The grant is one of the largest awarded in the department’s history. It will fund the creation of the Psychosis Risk Outcomes Network (ProNET). This consortium—based at 27 institutions—aims to recruit 1,040 patients who show symptoms linked to a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. These early symptoms have been shown to predict the onset of psychosis with a high degree of accuracy. Investigators will conduct clinical and biomarker assessments, including brain structure and function, psychopathology and cognition, genetics, behavior, and natural language and speech over a two-year period. Scott Woods, professor of psychiatry and in the Yale Child Study Center, is the project’s lead principal investigator.
Researchers find a cause for Fragile X syndrome
A team of Yale scientists, led by Elizabeth Ann Jonas, professor of internal medicine and of neuroscience, discovered an underlying mechanism for Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder linked to the X chromosome, which leads to learning disabilities, cognitive impairment, and many features of autism, including social difficulties. In the study, researchers focused on a protein called adenosine triphosphate synthase, which is present in nearly all cells in the body. It uses energy from food to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that is a major energy source for cells. In Fragile X syndrome, cells’ ATP-making function is abnormal, Jonas’s team found. Specifically, the cells’ mitochondria—which process fuel to make ATP—have a leaky inner membrane. When a leak in a cell’s mitochondria short-circuits efficient functioning of the synapse, memory, learning, and typical brain development are all compromised, Jonas said.
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