ABCA13 Gene link beween depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrania

The ABCA13 is a protein in humans encoded by the ABCA13 Gene located on chromosome 7, and is also the largest known protein of the ABC family. With chromosome 7 one set of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes, its base pairs are the building material of DNA, representing between five and five-and-a-half percent of the total DNA located in cells - with chromosome 7 containing 1,000 and 1,400 genes.

The ABCA13 Gene has been linked to psychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder because of rare variations and mutations of the protein gene. Five years of studies have shown that it is partially inactive in individuals who have been diagnosed with these three severe psychological conditions, hopefully leading to new treatments now that the gene is able to be identified.

When studies were done, it was found that the ABCA13 gene were found more frequently in mentally ill patients than anyone else.

Dr Ben Pickard, of the University of Strathclyde, said: "'This study is the first to identify multiple points of DNA damage within a single gene that are linked with psychiatric illness. It strongly suggests that this gene may regulate an important part of brain function that fails in individuals diagnosed with these devastating disorders.'" (Top News)

The hippo campus role in mental illness

Originally not associated with mental illness, the hippo campus and peripheral cortex areas in the brain are where the gene ABCA13 is the most active. The hippo campus is part of the limbic system which sends memories out to the correct area of the cerebral hemisphere for long term storage, retrieving them when needed.

• The hippo campus is affected first and foremost by Alzheimer's disease before the disease affects other parts of the brain, with memory going first
• The hippo campus is involved with severe mental illness, shrinking in individuals who have schizophrenia and severe depressions. Recent studies are showing that for individuals with depression and bipolar disorder, the shrinkage can be reversed with effective treatment.
  
• The hippo campus is directly affected by estrogen.
  
• The hippo campus can be injured through Alzheimer's Disease, too little blood flow and epilepsy - similarities to bipolar disorder.

Researchers are working on the way the gene affects fat molecules are used in the brain cells, with the discovery leading to new drug treatments that could restore mental health patients with depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Once this is found, a new area of biology will be opened up that will affect mental illness on an entirely new fundamental level. This is important because psychotropic drugs are responsible for double the deaths of homicides.