Protein plays a role in regulation of dopamine

Researchers at Yale and the Medical College of Georgia have taken an important step in unraveling the complex molecular interactions in the brain’s dopamine receptor system. The discovery by Clare Bergson, Ph.D., formerly at Yale and now at the Medical College of Georgia, of a new protein in the dopamine signaling pathway, calcyon, could pave the way for new treatments for mental illness, including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and possibly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The protein is named for “calcium on” because it interacts with one of the known dopamine receptors in the brain, the D1 receptor, to enhance release of calcium, which increases dopamine’s activity. Low levels of dopamine activity are associated with mental illness. The work was done with brain cells in the laboratory. “The next step,” said Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry, and primary investigator at the Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders, “is to learn if calcyon can increase the response of these neurons in the living animal.”