Molecular knowledge about
schizophrenia--a psychotic, multifactorial
mental disorder that affects about 1% of the population worldwide--is limited and no diagnostic
biomarkers are available. The comparative
proteome analysis of human brain tissue from patients with
schizophrenia and healthy controls may supply useful information on both the disorder and potential
biomarkers candidates. Here, we present the results of our investigation of anterior cingulate cortex samples from 11 patients and 8 controls. We used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry, the most traditional approach to studying the
proteome, to reveal the differentially expressed
proteins in
schizophrenia, and western blot to validate some interesting potential
biomarker candidates such as
dihydropyrimidinase-like 2 and
alpha-crystallin, involved in a number of processes such as cytoskeleton arrangement. Most interesting is that our additional sex-specific
proteome comparison showed that male and female
schizophrenia patients present different patterns of
proteome regulation, for instance for the
proteins aldolase C, an
enzyme of glycolysis, and
glutamine synthetase that synthesizes
glutamine, responsible for maintain
glutamate levels. Our findings not only support previous findings but also indicate areas that warrant further study in
schizophrenia.