Unique pharmacological actions of atypical neuroleptic quetiapine: possible role in cell cycle/fate control. Mus musculus

Quetiapine is an atypical neuroleptic with a pharmacological profile distinct from classic neuroleptics. It is currently approved for treating patients with schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar I disorder. However, its cellular effects remain elusive. We used microarrays to characterize RNA transcript levels in the brains of mice chronically treated with quetiapine, the neuroleptic haloperidol, or vehicle. We further characterized particular RNA transcripts in cortical cell cultures. Overall design: Mice were given one of 5 treatments (vehicle, 1 mg/kg haloperidol, 0.3 mg/kg haloperidol, 100 mg/kg quetiapine, 10 mg/kg quetiapine). Pooled tissue samples were used for microarray analysis of gene expression in the frontal cortex (FC) and striatum (STR). Frontal cortex gene targets were subsequently verified with quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) from the same cohort of mice and an independent cohort.