Professor John McGrath, UQ : "Convergent evidence implicates vitamin D deficiency and voltage-gated calcium channel function in schizophrenia"
Speaker:
Professor John McGrath
Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Australia, and Niels Bohr Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark
Title: Convergent evidence implicates vitamin D deficiency and voltage-gated calcium channel function in schizophrenia
Abstract:
Variants in voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) have been linked to risk of schizophrenia, as has prenatal vitamin D deficiency, known to be important in calcium homeostasis. In this talk I will provide a summary of recent research done in collaboration with colleagues at QBI and in Denmark that has investigated a mechanism that links these independent observations. We measured 25 hydroxyvitamin D in neonatal dried blood spots (n = 2602), and found that those in the lowest quintile of 25OHD concentration had a relative risk of schizophrenia of 1.44 (95%CI: 1.12-1.85) compared to the reference quintile. Using molecular, functional imaging and electrophysiological approaches, we demonstrate that the active form of vitamin D (1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D) induces rapid, non-genomic effects on calcium regulation in developing cortical neurons and brain. These include increased surface expression of L-type VGCCs in primary cortical neurons, and rapid-onset enhanced calcium influx in a subset of prefrontal cortex cortical neurons. Our findings provide convergent evidence that these epidemiological and genetic risk factors may operate via shared biological pathways.
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Neuroscience seminars at the QBI play a major role in the advancement of neuroscience in the Asia-Pacific region. The primary goal of these seminars is to promote excellence in neuroscience through the exchange of ideas, establishing new collaborations and augmenting partnerships already in place.
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