Gene Expression in Postmortem DLPFC and Hippocampus from Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders. Homo sapiens

Whole-genome expression analysis across major mental disorders allows examining disease-specific changes and potential common molecular pathogenic mechanisms. We assessed transcription alterations in schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BP) and major depression (MDD) as compared to controls (C) in two relevant regions, hippocampus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and in control tissue, dura, for a large cohort of individuals (total number 470 subjects for hippocampus, 691 for DLPFC and 150 for dura). We found a pattern of downregulation of gene expression in SZ, differences in expression between SZ and BP, and between the regions. 37 genes were differentially expressed in SZ vs C in both DLPFC and Hippocampus. Using qPCR, we validated ALDH1a1, which was downregulated in both regions in SZ. There were no differentially expressed genes in dura.