Biological characteristics of disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 and relevant signaling pathways

Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) is a key candidate gene involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and a general risk factor for schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, autism, and Asperger. Many genetic studies have indicated that DISC1 is relevant to not only the schizophrenia, but also various brain dysfunctions associated with aberrant neurodevelopment and intracellular signaling pathways. Studies on DISC1 in the central nerve system mainly focus on the neurogenesis and neuronal synapse development, such as neuronal maturation, proliferation, migration, positioning, differentiation, dendritic growth, and synaptic plasticity. The DISC1 gene codes the DISC1 protein, which is a multifunctional scaffold protein and plays an important role in neurogenesis and neural development of the adult brain, especially in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. DISC1 is expected to be a therapeutic target of mental illness and epilepsy. This paper reviews the biological cha