Authors:

Lucille Mattingly Whyman

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About Paper:

Although psychiatric disorders are extremely prevalent in the population, pharmacological research in this field has been limited over the last several decades. One medication called clozapine, an anti-psychotic used to treat schizophrenia, was discovered in the mid-1960s, but it is still not well studied. Since clozapine is the most effective drug for many with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, it is crucial to learn more about its effects. This research aims to determine the morphological effects of clozapine on astrocytes. Astrocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) were grown to maturity and treated with clozapine to see how the morphology changed. The three concentrations of clozapine used were 800ng/ml, 1600ng/ml, and 3200ng/ml in complete astrocyte media. These astrocytes were treated for 7 days and imaged on each of these days. Following treatment, cell painting was performed to see the effects more clearly. The following study compares the morphology of astrocytes before treatment with clozapine to those who have been treated for a week. This mimics clinical clozapine exposure to identify astrocyte-specific responses to this medication. This study may give insight into why clozapine is effective, and it could allow for further research into medications that are potentially safer and/or more effective. Keywords: Clozapine; Astrocytes; Schizophrenia; Cell Painting

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

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Co-authors:

Lucille Mattingly Whyman