Nrg1 mutation alters cytokine responses relevant to schizophrenia

Authors

P Snikeris, University of WollongongFollow
Xu-Feng Huang, University of WollongongFollow
E Frank, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

80292

Publication Details

Snikeris, P., Huang, X. -F. & Frank, E. 2013, 'Nrg1 mutation alters cytokine responses relevant to schizophrenia', 33rd Meeting of the Australian Neuroscience Society: Program, Abstracts & List of Registrants, ANS, Australia, pp. 160-160.

Abstract

Purpose: Gene-immune interactions are hypothesised to contribute to schizophrenia disease development. With Neureulin-1 (Nrg1) a candidate vulnerability gene and altered cytokines levels recently reported in human Nrg1 mutants; we investigated the peripheral and central cytokine response of Nrg1 heterozygous mutant (Nrg1-Het) mice following an immune stimulus. Methods: We treated adult Nrg1-Het and wild type littermates (WT) with melanoma cells, established to induce a chronic immune response, for 9 days (n>8 per group). Cytokine levels were measured in the plasma (n>6 per group) and the brain (n>3 per group) using Luminex or Western blot. Gene expression of signalling molecules was measured using RT-qPCR (n>3 per group). Significance accepted at p