NMDA receptor subunit NRI and postsynaptic protein PSD-95 in hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex in schizophrenia and mood disorder

Much interest has focussed on glutamate and the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. A number of studies have reported abnormal gene transcription of various glutamate receptor subtypes in the hippocampus including the NMDA receptor. However, corresponding protein levels in subregions of the hippocampus have not yet been investigated. We have used immunoautoradiographical techniques to assess the expression of the obligatory NMDA receptor subunit NR1 and an associated post-synaptic density protein PSD-95 in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in schizophrenia and mood disorder. Optical density measures from film autoradiographs revealed no changes in NR1 or PSD-95 in the OFC or dentate hilus, however a decrease in PSD-95 was found in the dentate molecular layer in both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder relative to major depression. These findings were unrelated to antipsychotic or mood stabilizer drug treatment. The dentate molecular layer contains the dendritic trees of granule cells and is the target of major excitatory afferent inputs from associative cortical, parahippocampal and hippocampal regions. A reduction in PSD-95 at glutamate synapses of the molecular layer may have a deleterious impact on information flow to other hippocampal regions via granule cells and their projecting mossy fibres. A down-regulation of PSD-95 in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may also relate to disease mechanisms of psychosis.