Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:31:20.321Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Functional Psychoses – Are Oncogenes Involved in Their Pathogenesis? Some Speculations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

John Leach
John Leach*
Affiliation:
The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Oncogenes are genes whose expression has been associated with malignant transformation of cells in tissue culture and with neoplastic change in vivo (Bishop, 1987). Much of the current understanding of their nature and action has stemmed from work, over the past 20 years, on tumour viruses (Temin, 1971; Rapp, 1983). One group of tumour viruses, the retroviruses, are unique in possessing an enzyme, reverse transcriptase, which transcribes to the cell DNA a copy of the viral RNA genome (Marks, 1987). After the discovery of viral oncogenes, such DNA copies were used as probes in hybridisation studies (Stehelin et al, 1976; Frankel & Fischinger, 1976). These probes, capable of annealing to complementary DNA sequences, revealed the existence of the latter in normal, unaffected cells (Willecke & Schäfer, 1984). These sequences, called cellular or proto-oncogenes, exist in a wide range of eukaryotic organisms, from yeast to man.

Type
Point of View
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 158 , Issue 4 , April 1991 , pp. 563 - 568
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1991 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albrecht, P., Torrey, E. F., Boone, E., et al (1980) Raised cytomegalovirus-antibody level in cerebrospinal fluid of schizophrenic patients. Lancet, ii, 769–772.Google Scholar
Antman, E. M., Stone, P. H., Muller, J. E., et al (1980) Calcium blocking agents in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. Part 1: Basic and clinical electrophysiological effects. Annals of Internal Medicine, 93, 875–885.Google Scholar
Baker, H. F., Bloxham, C. A., Crow, T. J., et al (1983) The viral hypothesis: some experimental approaches. Advances in Biological Psychiatry, 12, 1–19.Google Scholar
Berridge, M. J. (1986) Growth factors, oncogenes and inositol lipids. Cancer Surveys, 5, 413–430.Google Scholar
Bishop, J. M. (1986) Oncogenes as hormone receptors. Nature, 321, 112–113.Google Scholar
Bishop, J. M. (1987) The molecular genetics of cancer. Scicnce, 235, 305–311.Google Scholar
Breakefield, X. O. & Stern, D. F. (1986) Oncogenes in neural tumours. Trends in Neurosciences, 9, 150–155.Google Scholar
Bunney, W. E. & Murphy, D. L. (1976) The neurobiology of lithium. Neurosciences Research Program Bulletin, 14, 110–207.Google Scholar
Caffrey, J. M., Brown, A. M. & Schneider, M. D. (1987) Mitogens and oncogenes can block the induction of specific voltage-gated ion channels. Science, 236, 570–573.Google Scholar
Cappel, R. Gregoire, M. D., Thiry, L., et al (1978) Antibody and cell-mediated immunity to Herpes Simplex virus in psychotic depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 39, 266–268.Google Scholar
Carman, J. S., Post, R. M., Runkle, D. C., et al (1979) Increased serum calcium and phosphorus with the ‘switch’ into manic or excited psychotic states. British Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 55–61.Google Scholar
Chlarugi, V., Porciatti, F., Pasquali, F., et al (1985) Transformation of BALB/3T3 cells with EJ/T24/H-ras oncogene inhibits adenylate cyclase response to beta-adrenergic agonist while increases muscarinic receptor dependent hydrolysis of inositol lipids. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 132, 900–907.Google Scholar
Coffey, C. E., Sullivan, J. L. & Rice, J. R. (1983) T lymphocytes in schizophrenia. Biological Psychiatry, 18, 113–119.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1983) Is schizophrenia an infectious disease? Lancet, i, 173–175.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1984) A re-evaluation of the viral hypothesis: is psychosis the result of retroviral integration at a site close to the cerebral dominance gene? British Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 243–253.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1986a) The continuum of psychosis and its implication for the structure of the gene. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 419–429.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1986b) Left brain, retrotransposons and schizophrenia. British Medical Journal, 293, 3–4.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1987) Mutation and psychosis: a suggested explanation for seasonality of birth. Psychological Medicine, 17, 821–828.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J. (1988) Aetiology of psychosis: the way ahead. In Schizophrenia: The Major Issues (eds P. Bebbington & P. McGuffin), pp. 127–134. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Crow, T. J., Ferrier, I. N., Johnstone, E. C., et al (1979) Characteristics of patients with schizophrenia or neurological disorder and virus-like agent in spinal fluid. Lancet, i, 842–844.Google Scholar
DeLisi, L. E., Goodman, S., Neckers, L. M., et al (1982) An analysis of lymphocyte subpopulations in schizophrenic patients. Biological Psychiatry, 17, 1003–1009.Google Scholar
Detera-Wadleigh, S. D., Berettini, W. H., Goldin, R., et al (1987) Close linkage of c-Harvey-ras-1 and the insulin gene to affective disorder is ruled out in three North American pedigrees. Nature, 325, 806–808.Google Scholar
Dubovsky, S. L., Franks, R. D., Lifschitz, M., et al (1982) Effectiveness of verapamil in the treatment of a manic patient. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 502–504.Google Scholar
Egeland, J. A., Gerhard, D. S., Pauls, D. L., et al (1987) Bipolar affective disorders linked to DNA markers on chromosome 11. Nature, 325, 783–787.Google Scholar
Emery, A. E. H. (1984) An Introduction to Recombinant DNA. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Frankel, A. E. & Fischinger, P. J. (1976) Nucleotide sequences in mouse DNA and RNA specific for Maloney sarcoma virus. Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences, USA, 73, 3705–3709.Google Scholar
Fujimoto, M., Weaker, F. J., Herbert, D. C., et al (1988) Expression of three viral oncogenes (v-sis, v-myc, v-fos) in primary human brain tumours of neuroectodermal origin.Google Scholar
Neurology, 38, 289–293.Google Scholar
Gill, M., McKeon, P. & Humphries, P. (1988) Linkage analysis of manic depression in an Irish family using H-ras 1 and INS DNA markers. Journal of Medical Genetics, 25, 634–635.Google Scholar
Goodall, E. (1932) The exciting cause of certain states of disease at present classified under “schizophrenia” by psychiatrists, may be infection. The pathogenesis of these states does not, in this country, receive the close, prolonged and co-ordinated clinical and pathological study which it demands. Journal of Mental Science, 78, 746–754.Google Scholar
Gurling, H. M. D. (1988) Testing the retrovirus hypothesis of manic depression and schizophrenia with molecular genetic techniques. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 81, 332–334.Google Scholar
Hecht, F. (1988) Oncogene location update. Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics, 31, 142–143.Google Scholar
Hodgkinson, S., Sherrington, R., Gurling, H., et al (1987) Molecular genetic evidence for heterogeneity in manic depression. Nature, 325, 805–806.Google Scholar
Hullett, F. J., Potkin, S. G., Levy, A. B., et al (1988) Depression associated with nifedipine-induced calcium channel blockade. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1277–1279.Google Scholar
Hunt, S. P., Pini, A. & Evan, G. (1987) Induction of c-fos-like protein in spinal cord neurones following sensory stimulation. Nature, 328, 632–634.Google Scholar
Jackson, T. R., Blair, L. A., Marshall, J., et al (1988) The mas oncogene encodes an angiotensin receptor. Nature, 335, 437–440.Google Scholar
Jaggi, R., Friis, R. & Groner, B. (1988) Oncogenes modulate cellular gene expression and repress glucocorticoid regulated gene transcription. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry, 29, 457–463.Google Scholar
Jones, N. C. (1986) Negative regulation of enhancers. Nature, 321, 202–203.Google Scholar
Joseph, S. K., Thomas, A. P., Williams, R. J., et al (1984) Myoinositol 1,4,5–triphosphate: a second messenger for the hormonal mobilisation of intracellular calcium in liver. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 259, 3077–3081.Google Scholar
Kelsoe, J. R., Ginns, E. I., Egeland, J. A., et al (1989) Re-evaluation of the linkage relationship between chromosome 11p loci and the gene for bipolar affective disorder in the Old Order Amish. Nature, 342, 238–243.Google Scholar
King, D. J., Cooper, S. J., Earle, J. A. P., et al (1985) A survey of serum antibodies to eight common viruses in psychiatric patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 137–144.Google Scholar
King, D. J. & Cooper, S. J. (1989) Viruses, immunity and mental disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 1–7.Google Scholar
Lacal, J. C. & Aaronson, S. A. (1986) ras p21 deletion mutants and monoclonal antibodies as tools for localisation of regions relevant to p21 function. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 83, 5400–5404.Google Scholar
Levinson, A. D. (1986) Normal and activated ras oncogenes and their encoded proteins. Trends in Genetics, 2, 81–85.Google Scholar
Limbird, L. E. (1981) Activation and attenuation of adenylate cyclase. The role of GTP binding proteins as macromolecular messengers in receptor cyclase coupling. Biochemical Journal, 195, 1–13.Google Scholar
Lopez-Rivas, A. & Rozengurt, E. (1983) Serum rapidly mobilizes calcium from an intracellular pool in quiescent fibroblastic cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 114, 240–247.Google Scholar
Lycke, E., Norrby, R. & Roos, B-E. (1974) A serological study on mentally ill patients with particular reference to the prevalence of Herpes virus infections. British Journal of Psychiatry, 124, 273–279.Google Scholar
Mackay, A. V. P. (1985) Neuropeptides and psychiatry. In Recent Advances in Clinical Psychiatry 5 (ed. K. Granville-Grossman), pp. 179–200. London: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Marks, F. (1987) What's new in oncogenes and growth factors? Pathology, Research and Practice, 182, 831–848.Google Scholar
Matrisian, L. M., Rautmann, G. & Breathnach, R. (1988) Differential expression of preproencephalin and transin mRNAs following oncogenic transformation: evidence for two classes of oncogene induced genes. Oncogene Research, 2, 251–261.Google Scholar
McCowan, P. K. & Cook, L. C. (1928) The mental aspect of chronic epidemic encephalitis. Lancet, i, 1316–1320.Google Scholar
McGuffin, P. (1988) Major genes for major affective disorder? British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 591–596.Google Scholar
Menkes, D. B., Rasenick, M. M., Wheeler, M. A., et al (1983) Guanosine triphosphate activation of brain adenylate cyclase: enhancement by long-term antidepressant treatment. Science, 219, 65–67.Google Scholar
Menninger, K. A. (1926) Influenza and schizophrenia. An analysis of post-influenzal “dementia praecox”, as of 1918, and five years later. Further studies of the psychiatric aspects of influenza. American Journal of Psychiatry, 5, 469–529.Google Scholar
Menninger, K. A. (1928) The schizophrenic syndrome as a product of acute infectious disease. Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, 20, 464–481.Google Scholar
Michell, R. H. (1979) Inositol phospholipids in membrane function. Trends Biochemical Sciences, 4, 128–131.Google Scholar
Michell, R. H. (1989) Post-receptor signalling pathways. Lancet, i, 765–768.Google Scholar
Miller, R. J. (1987) Multiple calcium channels and neuronal function. Science, 235, 46–52.Google Scholar
Mullan, M. J. & Murray, R. M. (1989) The impact of molecular genetics on our understanding of the psychoses. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 591–595.Google Scholar
Phillis, J. W. (1974) The role of calcium in the central effects of biogenic amines. Life Sciences, 14, 1189–1201.Google Scholar
Rapp, F. (1983) Viral carcinogenesis. In Aspects of Cellular Regulation (ed. J. F. Danielli). International Review of Cytology (suppl. 15), 203–244.Google Scholar
Rubin, R. P. (1970) The role of calcium in the release of neurotransmitter substances and hormones. Pharmacological Reviews, 22, 389–428.Google Scholar
Smith, R. G., Nag, A., Syms, A. J., et al (1986) Steroid regulation of receptor concentration and oncogene expression. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry, 24, 51–55.Google Scholar
Stehelin, D., Varmus, H. E., Bishop, J. M., et al (1976) DNA related to the transforming gene(s) of avian sarcoma viruses is present in normal avian DNA. Nature, 260, 170–173.Google Scholar
Stryer, L. (1981) Biochemistry, pp. 840–846. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Temin, H. M. (1971) The protovirus hypothesis: speculations on the significance of RNA-directed DNA synthesis for normal development and for carcinogenesis. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 46, 3–7.Google Scholar
Tyrrell, D. A. J., Parry, R. P., Crow, T. J., et al (1979) Possible virus in schizophrenia and some neurological disorders. Lancet, i, 839–841.Google Scholar
Weinstein, E. A., Linn, L. & Kahn, R. L. (1955) Encephalitis with a clinical picture of schizophrenia. Journal of the Mount Sinai Hospital, 21, 341–354.Google Scholar
Willecke, K. & Schäfer, R. (1984) Human oncogenes. Human Genetics, 66, 132–142.Google Scholar
Wood, A. J. & Goodwin, G. M. (1987) A review of the biochemical and neuropharmacological actions of lithium. Psychological Medicine, 17, 579–600.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.