New mouse model to probe how antidepressants work
February 19th, 2011 - 2:50 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Feb 19 (ANI): Vanderbilt University researchers have developed a new mouse model to determine how antidepressants work.
The most widely prescribed antidepressants - medicines such as Prozac, Lexapro and Paxil - work by blocking the serotonin transporter, a brain protein that normally clears away the mood-regulating chemical serotonin.
And this theory about how selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) work can now be put to the test, thanks to the new research.
In addition to testing the theory about how SSRIs work, the new mouse model could lead to the development of entirely new classes of antidepressant medications, said Randy Blakely, Allan D. Bass, senior author of the study.
“Many antidepressants have been shown to target other proteins besides the serotonin transporter and … their efficacy in treating depression takes many weeks to develop. There is likely a lot that we don’t know about how these drugs act,” said Blakely.
To generate the mouse model, Blakely and colleagues at Vanderbilt and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio first determined exactly which parts of the serotonin transporter protein interact with SSRIs.
By changing the protein’s amino acid building blocks, they converted parts of the human serotonin transporter into its fruit fly equivalent, and in so doing identified the single amino acid required for potent binding to many SSRIs as well as to cocaine.
As predicted, the genetically-modified mice displayed normal serotonin transporter levels, and their transporter exhibited normal activity in clearing serotonin from the synapses between nerve cells.
But the mice did not respond to Prozac or Lexapro, indicating that the transporter is indeed the specific target of these medications for blocking serotonin inactivation.
The findings have been published in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (ANI)
- New target for antidepressants revealed - Jun 01, 2010
- Blood test to tell whether anti-depressants work - Dec 16, 2011
- Genetically defective mice to help understand human depression - Jun 30, 2010
- Mice study finds link between depression and inflammatory response - Dec 21, 2010
- Mouse model may pave way for better anti-depressant treatments - May 28, 2009
- Diet linked to onset of mental illness - Dec 14, 2010
- Prozac restores movement after paralysing stroke attack - Jan 10, 2011
- Recovery Of Patients From A Stroke Could Be Assisted By Multiuse Drugs Such As Prozac - Jan 11, 2011
- Aging-related protein holds breast cancer clues - Jan 28, 2011
- Antidepressant use linked to thicker arteries - Apr 03, 2011
- How anti depressants work - Sep 17, 2010
- Prozac, Celexa show promise for rheumatoid arthritis treatment - Feb 25, 2010
- What you eat can trigger mental illness - Dec 14, 2010
- Boosting key brain chemical cuts fatigue in mice - Dec 21, 2010
- Why antidepressants often fail - Jan 14, 2010
Tags: blakely, brain protein, fruit fly, health science center, mouse model, national academy of sciences, nerve cells, proceedings of the national academy, proceedings of the national academy of sciences, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin transporter, target, texas health science, texas health science center, texas health science center at san antonio, treating depression, university of texas health science center, university of texas health science center at san, vanderbilt university researchers