NU2023-196
INVENTORS
Peter Penzes*
Marc Dos Santos
BACKGROUND
Currently, there is a lack of treatments which address the negative and cognitive symptoms of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Northwestern researchers have designed a recombinant form of ⍺2d-1 protein, a subunit of the voltage-gated calcium channel, to restore protein deficits exhibited in the CSF of schizophrenia patients. This protein works to modulate neuronal activity to restore the excitation/inhibition balance that is characteristic among psychiatric disorders. When used to treat a chromosomal duplication syndrome related to the development of psychiatric disorders via injection of the protein in the anterior cingulate cortex, improvements in sociability (10-fold increase in 3-chamber sociability test) and novel object recognition in mice were observed. This protein-based therapy can be used in conjunction with currently prescribed anti-psychotics (treatment of positive symptoms) to target negative and cognitive symptoms, addressing market needs to expand beyond traditional anti-psychotic therapies.
PUBLICATIONS
Dos Santos M et al., Soluble α2δ-1, altered in disease CSF, modulates network homeostasis and rescues deficits in a neuropsychiatric mouse model. Neuron. Mar 19, 2026.
IP STATUS
US Patent pending.