A-Z™ Schizophrenia Drug Discovery Platform

Creative Biolabs has built a comprehensive, state-of-the-art technology platform to provide customized services for your schizophrenia (SZ) drug discovery. With more than a decade of experience in drug development for neurological diseases, we provide personalized solutions to help you achieve great success in this field.

Background of SZ Drug Discovery

SZ is a complex and severe mental illness that imposes a severe socioeconomic burden. When SZ is active, symptoms may include hallucinations, disorganized speech, delusions, difficulty thinking, and a lack of motivation. SZ also adversely affects attention, processing speed, reasoning, working memory, and more. In addition, people with SZ often perform poorly in social, work, and interpersonal relationships. They may feel frightened and seem out of touch with reality. SZ can be controlled with appropriate treatment. However, the current antipsychotic drug treatment effect is not ideal. Therefore, drugs with new mechanisms of action are urgently needed to address the lack of efficacy and debilitating side effects of current drugs.

Fig.1 A-Z™ Schizophrenia Drug Discovery Platform.

In Vitro Models of SZ

The lack of an appropriate model has severely hindered progress in understanding the underlying pathological mechanisms of SZ. In order to develop and test novel compounds for potential treatments of SZ, in vitro and in vivo models of the disease are required. At Creative Biolabs, a variety of in vitro models are available, providing an important platform for generating new drug screening targets.

• Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived neuronal cell culture models

iPSCs are generated by introducing pivotal pluripotency genes into human cells. In recent years, iPSCs have gradually emerged as crucial cell models for SZ drug development. Furthermore, iPSCs can be reprogrammed into diverse brain cell lineages, including cortical excitatory, hippocampal, oligodendrocytes microglia, and astrocytes. Notably, iPSCs have demonstrated characteristics of altered neuronal connectivity, a hallmark in SZ disease, which was reversed by antipsychotics, suggesting that they could potentially predict clinical drug efficacy.

• Neuronal stem cell (NSC) model

NSCs possess the ability to self-renew and differentiate into specialized cells. In addition, NSCs are characterized by strong plasticity and easy isolation and in vitro culture. In short, NSCs provide a very attractive in vitro model for exploring mechanisms of drug therapy and identifying susceptibility genes for SZ.

• Three-dimensional culture systems (3D) model

3D culture systems are one of the best models for studying neurological diseases. 3D cultures more accurately reflect conditions prevailing in vivo, thereby increasing the productivity of cultured cells. Furthermore, these cells are more physiologically responsive to bioactive substances and provide better precision in drug discovery. Therefore, 3D in vitro models are the most promising models for SZ drug development.

In Vivo Models of SZ

• Pharmacological Models of SZ

Pharmacological models of SZ are closely related to functional alterations in dopaminergic neurotransmission in the nervous system. The phencyclidine model and the amphetamine model are two important pharmacological models in the study of SZ.

• Genetic Animal Models of SZ

Genetic animal models allow studies at molecular, cellular, and behavioral levels. Creative Biolabs provides different SZ gene mouse models according to your unique needs.

• Neurodevelopmental Models of SZ

Studies have shown that SZ development is closely linked to fetal infection, malnutrition, or hypoxia. Various animal models of SZ neurodevelopment are available at Creative Biolabs, such as the prenatal methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) model and the prenatal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) model.

Our Assay Services

❉ Drug combination assay

❉ Immunoassays

❉ Functional Assays

❉ Toxicity Assays

❉ Cell Proliferation and Viability Assays

Please contact us for any additional information and we will be glad to provide a customized solution for your SZ drug discovery.