The research group of Professor Fan ZHU in Medical School of Wuhan University found that HERV-W env regulated the expression of schizophrenia-associated genes. The paper was published on the international notable magazine about mental pathology-schizophrenia bulletin. (Impact factor: 8.8). HERV-W env gene overexpression was detected in some patients with recent-onset schizophrenia. Their data revealed overexpression of HERV-W env upregulated brain-derived Neurotrophic factor(BDNF) and dopamine receptor D3, and increased phosphorylation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element–binding(CREB) protein. CRE was found to be essential for the expression of BDNF that was regulated by HERV-W. Therefore, their group is the first to discover the signaling pathway responsible for the upregulation of BDNF triggered by HERV-W env. Their study provides new evidence for the involvement of HERV-W in the central nervous system, which will benefit the diagnosis and treatment of the devastating schizophrenia and related disorders.

Professor Fan ZHU, the Chair and Professor of the department of medical microbiology, mainly studies the role of virus in the host cells. His interesting areas lie in two: 1) Study of Human Endogenous Retroviruses (HERVs) in multiple sclerosis and Schizophrenia; 2) Study of HBV in HCC. Dr. Wenjie HUANG and Dr. Shan LI are the co-first authors of the study. The whole article is available at: http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/37/5/988.long