Inhibitory Neurons Key to Understanding Neuropsychiatric Disorders

In 1999, Baylor College of Medicine researcher Dr. Huda Zoghbi and her colleagues identified mutations in the gene called MECP2 as the culprit in a devastating neurological disorder called Rett syndrome . In new research in mice published in the current issue of the journal Nature, Zoghbi and her colleagues demonstrate that the loss of the protein MeCP2 in a special group of inhibitory nerve cells in the brain reproduces nearly all Rett syndrome features.