Peripheral ADNP was also discovered as a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, with nasal administration of the ADNP snippet peptide NAP (enhancing endogenous ADNP activity) leading to partial cognitive and functional protection at the cellular, animal and clinical settings.
It is important to note that ADNP is sexually regulated in the brains of birds, mice, and men and in lymphocytes of patients suffering from schizophrenia.
One of the most important cellular processes associated with ADNP is the autophagy pathway, recently discovered by us as a key player in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
ADNP haploinsufficiency in mice, which results in age-related neuronal death, cognitive and social dysfunction, exhibited reduced hippocampal beclin1 and increased Bcl2 expression (mimicking schizophrenia and normal human aging).
ADNP haploinsufficiency in mice, which results in age-related neuronal death, cognitive and social dysfunction, exhibited reduced hippocampal beclin1 and increased Bcl2 expression (mimicking schizophrenia and normal human aging).
To evaluate a possible involvement of ADNP and ADNP2 in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia in humans, we measured relative brain mRNA transcripts of both proteins compared with control subjects.