Interactions of Dopamine D1/D2 Receptor with Glutamate Receptor of NMDA type: from Molecules to Animal Models of Schizophrenia
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a group of syndroms with a strong hereditary component. However, the links betwen varations in particular genetic loci and the risk of developing schizophrenia are inherently difficult to establish.
This is because the diagnosis of schizophrenia is based on the manifestation of emergent functional traits that cannot be, by their nature, linked in a simple fashion to single genes. Yet, molecular components of certain receptors (dopamine D1 and D2 as well as glutamate receptor of NMDA type) seem to be significantly involved in the ethiology of the disorder.
This may be a result of their prominent involvement in the most fundamental mechanisms of neural function, strategic distribution in brain regions most related to schizophrenia and particular susceptibility to environmental influences. Such aspects concerning the pathophysiology of schizophrenia can be conveniently studied in animal models of this psychiatriic disorder