WASHINGTON: Scientists have identified a protein in the brain of patients with schizophrenia which can be targeted by drugs to treat the neurodegenerative disease.

To identify effective drugs, Francesca Rapino, Lee Rubin, and colleagues from Harvard University, US have developed an efficient method to make large numbers of C4-secreting human astrocytes from stem cells.

In a paper recently published in Stem Cell Reports, the researchers followed-up with a screen of 464 drugs and identified a small group of about 20 that reduced C4 secretion from astrocytes.

These drugs were effective in both healthy astrocytes and in astrocytes made from Schizophrenia patients' stem cells.

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