Adult neural stem cells and schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a devastating and complicated mental disorder accompanied by variable positive and negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. Although many genetic risk factors have been identified, SCZ is also considered as a neurodevelopmental disorder. Elucidation of the pathogenesis and the development of treatment is challenging because complex interactions occur between these genetic risk factors and environment in essential neurodevelopmental processes. Adult neural stem cells share a lot of similarities with embryonic neural stem cells and provide a promising model for studying neuronal development in adulthood. These adult neural stem cells also play an important role in cognitive functions including temporal and spatial memory encoding and context discrimination, which have been shown to be closely linked with many psychiatric disorders, such as SCZ. Here in this review, we focus on the SCZ risk genes and the key components in related signaling pathways in adult hippocampal neural stem cells and summarize their roles in adult neurogenesis and animal behaviors. We hope that this would be helpful for the understanding of the contribution of dysregulated adult neural stem cells in the pathogenesis of SCZ and for the identification of potential therapeutic targets, which could facilitate the development of novel medication and treatment.

Key Words: Neural stem cells, Adult hippocampal neurogenesis, Schizophrenia, Risk genes, Signaling pathways, Behavior

Core Tip: This review focuses on the role of schizophrenia risk genes and related signaling pathways in adult hippocampal neurogenesis, which has been shown to play an essential role in many psychiatric disorders. We summarize the outcome of adult neural stem cells and animal behavior when these risk genes or the key components in related signaling pathways are dysregulated. We hope this will shed light on the elusive pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

• Citation: Hu L, Zhang L. Adult neural stem cells and schizophrenia. World J Stem Cells 2022; 14(3): 219-230
• URL: https://www.wjgnet.com/1948-0210/full/v14/i3/219.htm
• DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4252/wjsc.v14.i3.219