Abstract
Objective: Our recent microarray study detected decreases in the expression of phospholipase C beta 1 mRNA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from subjects with schizophrenia at different stages of illness. Thus we aimed to validate and extend these findings.
Method: We measured levels of mRNA and protein for phospholipase C beta 1 variant a and b using real-time PCR and western blot analysis, respectively, in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from subjects with schizophrenia, who had a short (< 7 years) or long (> 22 years) duration of illness.
Results: Compared to age/sex matched controls, levels of phospholipase C beta 1 variant a and b mRNAs were decreased (−33% and −50%, respectively) in short duration schizophrenia. By contrast, only variant a mRNA was decreased (−24%) in long duration schizophrenia. There was no significant difference in the protein levels of either phospholipase C beta 1 variant in schizophrenia, irrespective of duration of illness (variant a; P = 0.84, variant b; P = 0.73).
Conclusion: Our data confirm that phospholipase C beta 1 transcript levels are decreased in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from subjects with schizophrenia. However, the changes in levels of mRNA do not translate into a change at the level of protein. It is possible protein expression is regulated independently of mRNA and it remains to be determined whether there is a functional consequence of this change in mRNA relating to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
Acknowledgements
We thank Geoff Pavey and Susan Juzva for technical assistance.
Declaration of interest: Brian Dean is a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellow (400016). Elizabeth Scarr is the ARH Royce Abbey Post-Doctoral Fellow. This research was supported by Operational Infrastructure Support (OIS) from the Victorian State Government. Tissues were received from the Victorian Brain Bank Network, supported by the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Alfred Hospital, the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Forensic Institute of Medicine and funded by Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council, Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, Parkinson's Victoria and Perpetual Philanthropic Services. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.