Cellular Models in Schizophrenia Research

Abstract

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a prevalent functional psychosis characterized by clinical behavioural symptoms and underlying abnormalities in brain function. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of schizophrenia have revealed many loci that do not directly identify processes disturbed in the disease. For this reason, the development of cellular models containing SZ-associated variations has become a focus in the post-GWAS research era. The application of revolutionary clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing tools, along with recently developed technologies for cultivating brain organoids in vitro, have opened new perspectives for the construction of these models. In general, cellular models are intended to unravel particular biological phenomena. They can provide the missing link between schizophrenia-related phenotypic features (such as transcriptional dysregulation, oxidative stress and synaptic dysregulation) and data from pathomorphological, electrophysiological and behavioural studies. The objectives of this review are the systematization and classification of cellular models of schizophrenia, based on their complexity and validity for understanding schizophrenia-related phenotypes.

New clues for the role of cerebellum in schizophrenia and the associated cognitive impairment

“…In summary, functional and genetic findings obtained using multiple techniques support alteration in synaptic transmission and plasticity in SZ (Abashkin et al, 2021;Nascimento et al, 2022) opening the question on how and when these changes happen. During neurodevelopment, genetic and environmental factors make synapses vulnerable to stress-triggered glia-mediated elimination, disrupting neuron function and worsening symptoms like psychosis (Howes et al, 2023).…”

Different Directions of Effects of Polyclonal IgG Antibodies from Patients with Schizophrenia and Healthy Individuals on Cell Death In Vitro: A Pilot Study

“…SH-SY5Y cells are widely used either as undifferentiated cells or as cells differentiated into a neuron-like lineage. There are receptors for dopamine, GABA, acetylcholine, and glutamate on the surface of SH-SY5Y cells [ 35 ]. For example, the mechanisms of action of olanzapine and haloperidol on the serum withdrawal apoptosis of SH-SY5Y cells have been investigated by N.R.…”

Neurotoxic/Neuroprotective Effects of Clozapine and the Positive Allosteric Modulator of mGluR2 JNJ-46356479 in Human Neuroblastoma Cell Cultures

“…The neuroblastoma cell line displays neuronal properties and is a popular in vitro model used in neuropsychiatric research including schizophrenia [25,26]. It has the advantage of low cost, ease of culture, reproducibility and available literature, as it has been widely used to test pharmacological effects of drugs including APs [27][28][29].…”

“…Interestingly, some mGluR2/3 agonists have previously shown neuroprotection against different neurotoxic insults in different cell cultures [22], including neuroblastoma [23,24]. The human neuroblastoma cell line displays neuronal properties and is a popular in vitro model used in neuropsychiatric research including schizophrenia [23][24][25][26] that has been widely used to test pharmacological effects of drugs including APs [26][27][28][29].…”