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During the past 30 years, many genetic loci and areas of the genome have been linked to schizophrenia. But because these early studies lacked size and statistical rigor, many putative associations have not been confirmed.
A new study from Boston suffers from neither of these shortcomings. An analysis of genetic linkage data from 28,799 schizophrenia cases and 35,986 controls in 22 countries identified the gene for complement component 4 (C4) as being of critical importance in schizophrenia. The investigators then conducted biological studies to understand how C4 was involved. Human postmortem brain tissue demonstrated that: (1) C4 protein is localized to synapses, (2) brains of schizophrenic patients have excess production of C4, (3) differe…