ABSTRACT
Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) are severe psychiatric conditions with a neurodevelopmental component. Genetic findings indicate the existence of an overlap in genetic susceptibility across the disorders. Also, image studies provide evidence for a shared neurobiological basis, contributing to a dimensional diagnostic approach. This study aimed to identify the molecular mechanisms that differentiate SZ and BD patients from health controls but also that distinguish both from health individuals. Comparison of gene expression profiling in post-mortem brains of both disorders and health controls (30 cases), followed by a further comparison between 29 BD and 29 SZ revealed 28 differentially expressed genes. These genes were used in co-expression analysesthat revealed the pairs CCR1/SERPINA1, CCR5/HCST, C1QA/CD68, CCR5/S100A11 and SERPINA1/TLR1 as presenting the most significant difference in co-expression between SZ and BD. Next, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network using the 28 differentially expressed genes as seeds revealed CASP4, TYROBP, CCR1, SERPINA1, CCR5 and C1QA as having a central role in the diseases manifestation. Both co-expression and network topological analyses pointed to genes related to microglia functions. Based on this data, we suggest that differences between SZ and BP are due to genes involved with response to stimulus, defense response, immune system process and response to stress biological processes, all having a role in the communication of environmental factors to the cells and associated to microglia.
