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What Foods Contain Sapap3 Protein?

Actually, no foods contain Sapap3 protein. Sapap3 is found in the brains of many mammals, but it cannot simply be ingested through consumption of foods containing the brain tissue of these animals. Even if a human were to somehow ingest food "rich" in Sapap3 protein, there would be no positive or adverse effects.

  1. Definition

    • Sapap3 produces a protein found in the brains of both humans and other mammals. Like the other Sapap proteins, Sapap3 is an adaptor protein that interacts with different synaptic scaffolding proteins, cytoskeletal and signaling components. Scientists also refer to Sapap3 as an antibody and classify Sapap3 as a gene that produces a protein.

    Significance

    • There is mounting, if still circumstantial, evidence indicating that a lack of Sapap3 may lead to Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. According to a widely cited study published in the August 2007 issue of "Nature," by Welch et al., "mice with genetic deletion of Sapap3 exhibit increased anxiety and compulsive grooming behaviour." When Sapap3 was then introduced into the brain tissue of these test subjects, these behaviors lessened or ceased.

    Laboratory Sources of Sapap3

    • Scientists extract Sapap3 from the cellular membrane of laboratory animals such as rabbits and mice. Such extraction is difficult and may involve genetic cloning in order to produce large, workable samples. That is why it is misleading to consider which foods contain Sapap3 protein.

    Possible Significance of Food in Relation to Sapap3

    • Because certain traits of obsessive compulsive disorders in test subjects have been treated and eliminated by the inclusion of Sapap3 in the striatum (part of the basal ganglia of the brain), perhaps some people have gotten the impression that ingesting foods containing Sapap3 may be effective in the treatment of OCD in humans. As of 2010, no drug has yet been developed for delivering Sapap3 to the human brain.

    Caution

    • There is as yet no clear link between Sapap3 deficiency and OCD in humans. We cannot assume that OCD conditions in humans are related variations in the Sapap3 gene, as they seem to be in the animal test subjects. Psychiatric diseases in humans have complex underpinnings, with genetic, chemical and environmental factors all playing interrelated parts. Unfortunately, it is too soon to tell what part Sapap3 proteins may play in the treatment of OCD conditions in humans, but many recent studies do offer hope.

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