Neuregulin 1-ErbB4-PI3K signaling in schizophrenia and phosphoinositide 3-kinase-p110δ inhibition as a potential therapeutic strategy

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jul 24;109(30):12165-70. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1206118109. Epub 2012 Jun 11.

Abstract

Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) and ErbB4, critical neurodevelopmental genes, are implicated in schizophrenia, but the mediating mechanisms are unknown. Here we identify a genetically regulated, pharmacologically targetable, risk pathway associated with schizophrenia and with ErbB4 genetic variation involving increased expression of a PI3K-linked ErbB4 receptor (CYT-1) and the phosphoinositide 3-kinase subunit, p110δ (PIK3CD). In human lymphoblasts, NRG1-mediated phosphatidyl-inositol,3,4,5 triphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3] signaling is predicted by schizophrenia-associated ErbB4 genotype and PIK3CD levels and is impaired in patients with schizophrenia. In human brain, the same ErbB4 genotype again predicts increased PIK3CD expression. Pharmacological inhibition of p110δ using the small molecule inhibitor, IC87114, blocks the effects of amphetamine in a mouse pharmacological model of psychosis and reverses schizophrenia-related phenotypes in a rat neonatal ventral hippocampal lesion model. Consistent with these antipsychotic-like properties, IC87114 increases AKT phosphorylation in brains of treated mice, implicating a mechanism of action. Finally, in two family-based genetic studies, PIK3CD shows evidence of association with schizophrenia. Our data provide insight into a mechanism of ErbB4 association with schizophrenia; reveal a previously unidentified biological and disease link between NRG1-ErbB4, p110δ, and AKT; and suggest that p110δ is a previously undescribed therapeutic target for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Adenine / chemistry
  • Adenine / pharmacology
  • Amphetamine / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Antipsychotic Agents / pharmacology
  • B-Lymphocytes
  • Blotting, Western
  • Cell Line, Transformed
  • Class I Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases
  • ErbB Receptors / genetics
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism*
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Genetic Association Studies
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Molecular Structure
  • Neuregulin-1 / metabolism*
  • Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / metabolism
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors*
  • Phosphorylation / drug effects
  • Quinazolines / chemistry
  • Quinazolines / pharmacology*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Receptor, ErbB-4
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Schizophrenia / drug therapy
  • Schizophrenia / genetics*
  • Schizophrenia / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / physiology*

Substances

  • Antipsychotic Agents
  • IC 87114
  • NRG1 protein, human
  • Neuregulin-1
  • Phosphoinositide-3 Kinase Inhibitors
  • Quinazolines
  • Amphetamine
  • Class I Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases
  • PIK3CD protein, human
  • ERBB4 protein, human
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Erbb4 protein, mouse
  • Erbb4 protein, rat
  • Receptor, ErbB-4
  • Adenine