Work published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that an enzyme inhibitor developed by Professor Bruce Hammock and colleagues at UC Davis reduced inflammation in the brains of mice born to mothers with maternal immune activation.
Work published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that an enzyme inhibitor developed by Professor Bruce Hammock and colleagues at UC Davis reduced inflammation in the brains of mice born to mothers with maternal immune activation. Inflammation triggered by the enzyme, soluble epoxide hydrolase, is linked to neurodevelopmental disorders in these mice.
“Inhibiting that enzyme stops the inflammation and the development of autism-like and schizophrenia-like symptoms in animal models,” said co-author Kenji Hashimoto, a professor with the Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Japan.
The work flows from the idea that development of disorders such as autism or schizophrenia can be influenced by infections during pregnancy that expose the developing fetus to inflammatory chemicals. These disorders also have a strong genetic component.
Read more at University of California – Davis
Photo: UC Davis researchers (L to R) Jun Yang, Sung Hee Hwang and Bruce Hammock are looking into the many roles of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), originally discovered by Hammock in caterpillars. An inhibitor of the enzyme protects mice from neurodevelopment disorders. CREDIT: Kathy Keatley Garvey
