Heavyweight discovery! Protein deficiency or induced mental retardation

Mental retardation is often caused by gene mutation which leads to the failure of the corresponding protein to function normally However, the mutation will also change the function of the gene, and the mutant gene will also play a role in a completely different way Recently, in a research report published in the international journal the American Journal of human genetics, researchers from abroad identified 15 key genes that play an important role in the development of mental disorders through research Relevant research may provide new ideas for later researchers to develop effective intervention measures to prevent mental disorders The common cause of mental retardation is new mutation, which will damage the function of gene and make it unable to produce normal function protein The absence of protein function will induce disease In a series of disease-related genes, new mutation will not eliminate gene, but will affect the function of gene These mutations are only located in the special part of gene In order to clarify the molecular mechanism involved, the researchers combined gene mutations in Dutch patients with mental retardation with a large database containing multiple patients' new mutations They found that new mutations often only change the function of a part of the protein, and the function of the protein still exists to a large extent, but not exactly the same, said researcher gilissen This mutation is likely to affect the surface part of the protein, which will interfere with its interaction with other proteins Although eliminating the mutation of gene function is often considered as the main cause of inducing mental disorders, the mutation of changing gene function is considered as an important factor So why do new mutations often show special aggregation? There are many explanations given by researchers First of all, these genes will show a small amount of natural changes If the function of genes is completely eliminated, individuals cannot be born, and mutations located in special parts of genes are often active, so these mutations will be found; Another explanation is that gene mutations can provide growth benefits for sperm development In this case, these mutations may also exist In this paper, the three new mutations found by the researchers play a key role in the occurrence of mental disorders, and they also provide the possibility of diagnosis for patients with mental disorders; Finally, researcher gillissen said, "we have found a mechanism that has not been studied before, and this mechanism seems to play a key role in the pathogenesis of most patients with mental disorders.".