CTR1 and Dysbindin-1 in postmortem schizophrenia hippocampus

Several schizophrenia brain regions exhibit decreased dysbindin-1 including the hippocampus. We hypothesized that there would be less dysbindin-1 and CTR1 levels in the hippocampus in SZP and performed a quantitative immunohistochemical study on controls and SZP (n=10 per group). The hippocampus proper, dentate gyrus, entorhinal cortex, and subiculum were richly immunolabeled for CTR1 in both controls and SZP. Qualitatively, CTR1 immunolabeling was present in the same cell types in both groups. Only the optical density of CTR1 immunolabeling in the entorhinal cortex and dentate gyrus showed significant differences between groups. In the superficial area of the entorhinal cortex, both neuropil and cells showed lower optical density values in the SZP than in controls. The opposite pattern was observed in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus, where SZP had significantly higher optical density values than did controls. The density and distribution of dysbindin-1 immunolabeling was similar between groups with no significant differences. These results suggest laminar specific alterations of copper transport within SZP that is not directly caused by decreased dysbindin-1. Therefore, dysbindin-1 may be sufficient but not necessary to induce abnormal copper transport in SZP.