Targeting synaptic plasticity in schizophrenia: insights from genomic studies

Abstract

Recent genomic findings identify many hundreds of genomic loci that are associated with schizophrenia. Consistent with data from the pregenomic era, genomic findings implicate synaptic function and plasticity as a tractable therapeutic target for the cognitive dysfunction and negative symptoms that patients experience. Genomic findings have the potential to provide insights into the nature of synaptic dysfunction in schizophrenia, and to identify novel therapeutic targets, but identifying the most promising candidates remains a challenge. We propose an integrated approach to triaging the long list of potential genomic targets and provide six practical criteria that we use to prioritise putative candidates.