Proteome and transcriptome analysis suggests oligodendrocyte dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Despite all the efforts regarding the treatment of schizophrenia patients and the growing advances in molecular diagnosis studies, the biochemical basis of this debilitating psychotic mental disorder that affects approximately 1% of the world's population is still not completely comprehended. Several recent clinical and molecular studies, using transcriptome and proteome analyses (TPA), for example, have described the oligodendrocyte dysfunction as a significant feature of the disease. TPA has been extensively used as a biomarker discovery tool, but a detailed and careful interpretation of the generated data can also provide a picture of the integrated biochemical systems that lead to the disease. This review presents the oligodendrocyte role players in schizophrenia pathogenesis as revealed by transcriptome and proteome studies. The presented data contribute to the composition of a scenario that may lead to a better understanding of schizophrenia pathogenesis. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.