A genetic mutation found in two human patients with schizophrenia also increased schizophrenia-related behaviors in mice with the same mutation, a rare finding of a direct genetic link to psychosis, report researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and colleagues in Massachusetts and Germany.
The mutation increases levels of glycine decarboxylase, or GLDC, an enzyme responsible for regulating glycine in the brain. Glycine activates receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate, called NDMA receptors.
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