Clinical Significance
Neuregulin 1-ErbB4 interactions are thought to play a role in the pathological mechanism of schizophrenia. A high-risk deCODE (Icelandic) haplotype was discovered in 2002 on the 5'-end of the gene. The SNP8NRG243177 allele from this haplotype was associated in 2006 with a heightened expression of the Type IV NRG1 in the brains of people suffering from schizophrenia. Further, the NRG1-ErbB4 signalling complex has been highlighted as a potential target for new antipsychotic treatment.
The protein also has the putative ability to protect the brain from damage induced by stroke. Those with a genetic variant of neuregulin 1 tended to be more creative.
There is evidence that NRG1 is a tumor suppressor gene.
There is also strong evidence that NRG1 plays a critical role in Schwann cell maturation, survival, and motility, important in research related to neurofibromatosis type two (NF2).
Read more about this topic: Neuregulin 1
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“Of what significance the light of day, if it is not the reflection of an inward dawn?—to what purpose is the veil of night withdrawn, if the morning reveals nothing to the soul? It is merely garish and glaring.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)