# A potential new approach for the treatment of schizophrenia
A new study led by Jeff Conn, Lee E. Limbird Chair in Pharmacology, James Maksymetz, a former graduate student in the Conn laboratory, and other collaborators at the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery has identified a protein in the central nervous system, known as mGlu1, as a potential target for novel treatments of schizophrenia.
After identifying mGlu1—an abbreviation of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 1—as a potentially druggable target, they tested it with a compound that enhances its function: a positive allosteric modulator. The PAM was previously developed by Conn in close collaboration with other labs in the WCNDD, including those of Craig Lindsley, University Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacology, and Colleen Niswender, associate professor of pharmacology. Using this compound, they found that enhancing the activity of mGlu1 selectively increased the activity of specific inhibitory interneurons, restoring their ability to inhibit the neuronal circuits they control.
Further, the researchers saw that by working with the PAM, symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia in human patients were reversed. These results suggest that using a PAM to enhance mGlu1 activity is an effective treatment for schizophrenia.
More information: James Maksymetz et al, mGlu1 potentiation enhances prelimbic somatostatin interneuron activity to rescue schizophrenia-like physiological and cognitive deficits, Cell Reports (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109950
