Abstract
Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) is highly enriched in neurons and binds to approximately 4% of mRNAs in mammalian brain. Its loss is a hallmark of fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common form of mental retardation. In this review we discuss the mutation in the fragile X mental retardation-1 gene (FMR1), that leads to FXS, the role FMRP plays in neuronal cells, experiments from our own laboratory that demonstrate reductions of FMRP in additional psychiatric disorders (autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder), and potential therapies to ameliorate the loss of FMRP. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Trends in Neuropharmacology: In Memory of Erminio Costa'.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1221-1226 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Neuropharmacology |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 7-8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Grant support from NICHD and NIMH for SHF (1R015HD052074-04, 3R01HD052074-03S1, 1R01MH086000-01A2) is greatly appreciated. Human tissue was obtained from the NICHD Brain and Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD (The role of the NICHD Brain and Tissue Bank is to distribute tissue, and therefore, cannot endorse the studies performed or the interpretation of results); the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, which is supported in part by PHS grant number R24 MH068855; the Brain Endowment Bank, which is funded in part by the National Parkinson Foundation, Inc. , Miami, Florida; the Autism Tissue Program; and The Stanley Medical Research Institute’s brain collection are gratefully acknowledged. Reviews of results of FMRP in autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder are summarized from the following articles: 1) Fatemi, S.H., Folsom, T.D., Kneeland, R.E., Liesch, S.B., Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 upregulation in children with autism is associated with underexpression of both Fragile X mental retardation protein and GABA A receptor beta 3 in adults with autism, Anatomical Record, in press, copyright (2011) with permission from John Wiley and Sons and 2) Fatemi, S.H., Kneeland, R.E., Liesch, S.B., Folsom, T.D., Fragile X mental retardation protein levels are decreased in major psychiatric disorders, Schizophrenia Research, 124(1–3):246–247, copyright (2010) with permission from Elsevier.
Keywords
- Autism
- Brain
- Dendrite
- Fragile X mental retardation protein
- Metabotropic glutamate receptor
- Schizophrenia