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Molecular biology and the major psychoses
1Inflammation Research Unit, School of Pathology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Objective:
To highlight the potential role of molecular biological studies in examining the expression of genes of interest in brain tissue to elucidate the pathophysiological basis of the major psychoses.
Method:
To review the principles underlying the available techniques for expression studies.
Results:
Detection of messenger RNA by in situ hybridisation and quantitation by Northern analysis are powerful tools to detect abnormalities in gene expression in brain tissue.
Conclusion:
The availability of simple techniques to examine the expression of RNA and protein products of individual genes, including examination at the level of individual cells, offers a clear opportunity to define the molecular basis of the major psychoses.