ASYMMETRICAL CHANGES IN THE FODRIN ALPHA-SUBUNIT IN THE SUPERIOR TEMPORAL CORTICES IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Background: We examined possible abnormalities in neural structural pr oteins that may underlie morphometric changes reported in the left sup erior temporal cortices (Brodmann's area 22) of schizophrenics, Method s: Particulate proteins of the superior temporal cortices taken at aut opsy from II schizophrenic and 9 control brains were fractionated by g el electrophoresis, Target proteins, identified by reading their amino acid sequences, were immunoquantified using the specific antibody, Re sults: Amino acid sequences of the 150-kDa proteins on sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which were significantly i ncreased on the left side of schizophrenic superior temporal cortices, revealed that they were proteolytic fragments of the alpha subunit of fodrin, a major cytoskeletal protein underlying the plasma membrane, Immunoquantification using the specific antibodies against alpha and b eta subunits of fodrin indicated that there exist concomitant decrease s in the full-length 240-kDa form and increases in the 150-kDa form of or-fodrin,vith no changes of the 235-kDa form of beta-fodrin in the l eft superior temporal cortices of the schizophrenic brains, Conclusion s: The findings may be a possible molecular basis for linking morphome tric changes to neurochemical pathophysiology in schizophrenia. (C) 19 98 Society of Biological Psychiatry.