Project Summary

Donald Channing Cooper, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, seeks to understand how transient receptor potential (TRP) channels interact with dopamine (DA) to alter the function of the hippocampal/prefrontal cortical pathway as it relates to schizophrenia. The project will use quantitative mRNA, protein analysis, and patch-clamp electrophysiology to establish a molecular and functional characterization of the channels in the hippocampal/prefrontal cortical (PFC) pathway. The project’s first aim is to characterize the role of the TRPC channel expression in schizophrenia. Dr. Cooper plans to use western blots to detect TRPC5 protein and make in situ probes for TRPC 4/5 to test the distribution of these channels in the rat and human brain. The project’s second aim is to understand the interaction between DA receptor activation and TRPC4/5 channels in modulating PFC excitability. With greater understanding of schizophrenia-associated elevations in TRPC5 in this pathway, it may be possible to develop pharmacological treatments or gene profiling strategies to screen for psychosis vulnerability.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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