For nearly 50 years, a theory has lingered in the background of psychiatric research: that the human body might naturally produce a molecule capable of slowing down a brain enzyme linked to hallucinations.
Now, researchers in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy are revisiting that forgotten science. Their goal is to identify and characterize a natural “brake pedal” in the brain — one that could open the door to a new class of drugs for treating schizophrenia.
“Schizophrenia remains one of the most difficult psychiatric disorders to treat, because there are few medications to effectively control hallucinations and delusions,” said Chris McCurdy, Ph.D., FAAPS, the Frank A. Duckworth Eminent Scholar Chair and associate dean for faculty development in the UF College of Pharmacy. “It’s like the brain is in overdrive with no way to tap the brakes, and that is what most patients face.”
The “brake pedal” McCurdy’s team is investigating is a naturally occurring molecule that may slow the activity of an enzyme called indolethylamine N-methyltransferase, or INMT, which helps produce the powerful psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, in the body.
A 1977 study suggested tiny proteins in the body could block the enzyme, but the research stopped there. Nearly 50 years later, UF researchers are revisiting that early work in hopes of replicating it.
“If we can characterize the inhibitor protein of this enzyme, and it turns out to be something new, that is pretty significant in the development of new schizophrenia drugs,” McCurdy said. “If it turns out to be a peptide that is already built but has a different function, that would be interesting as well.”
McCurdy’s research is backed by the Florida-based nonprofit Noonautics, which has committed over $400,000 to support a one-year study on INMT inhibitors.
“This project is the first step on a path to unravelling decades-long unresolved questions surrounding the mechanisms that underlie the production of endogenous DMT,” said Patrick Struhar, D.C., founder and director of Noonautics. “We are excited to work with Dr. McCurdy and his team, who are world leaders in this type of biochemical research, to help turn this challenging but potentially groundbreaking research into reality.”
Andrew Gallimore, Ph.D., director of Noonautics, believes that this work could have transformative implications both for the treatment of neuropsychological disorders and for the exploration of highly unusual altered states of consciousness.
For McCurdy and his colleagues, the support from Noonautics offers more than financial backing, as it’s an opportunity to explore new science with the potential to shift how schizophrenia and related disorders are treated. “Our lab’s work with Noonautics is a great example of the public-private partnerships that can exist in academic research to advance science, and in this case, lead to the potential development of new psychiatric medicines,” McCurdy said.