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Topic Name: The molecular mechanisms and the identity of the protein, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
Category: Biomedical
Research persons: Ronald Duman, PhD, Jennifer Warner-Schmidt
Location: 333 Cedar Street | P.O. Box 208066 | New Haven, CT 06520-8066, United States
Details
Antidepressants increase the presence of a growth factor in the brain, which then leads to a
proliferation of new cells, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine
researchers in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.The study describes for
the first time the molecular mechanisms and the identity of the protein,
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which underlie the actions of
antidepressants on new cell growth and behavior."One in five
Americans have depression, yet the neural mechanisms underlying depression and
the actions of antidepressants remain unknown," says Ronald Duman, senior
author and professor of psychiatry at Yale. "These findings provide
important, fundamental and new information on the actions of these highly
prescribed drugs. The data also has implications for understanding many
stress-related disorders."Duman and Jennifer
Warner-Schmidt, a former graduate student at Yale now at the Rockefeller
Institute, found in a rodent study that VEGF levels are increased by chronic
administration of either of two major classes of antidepressant medications.
Conversely, blocking the effects of VEGF prevents new cell birth in response to
the medications.
Duman says recent
studies demonstrated that stress decreases the expression of VEGF in the
hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in the control of emotion, mood,
learning and memory, and this could contribute to the atrophy and loss of cells
caused by stress and depression.
In prior groundbreaking
research Duman found that antidepressants increase the expression of growth
factors in the hippocampus and other regions of the brain. He also found that
antidepressants increase the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus.
According to Duman,
future studies could look at VEGF and related pathways for genetic mutations
that might contribute to depression, or make a person more susceptible to
depression. VEGF signaling also could provide targets for the development of
novel, faster acting and more effective therapeutic agents.
About Researchers:
Ronald Duman, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology
Director, Division of Molecular Psychiatry and Abraham Ribicoff Research
Facilities
34 Park Street
Tel: 203-974-7726
Fax: 203-974-7724
Email: Ronald.Duman@Yale.edu
Jennifer
Warner-Schmidt
A
former graduate student at Yale now at the Rockefeller Institute,
Funded:
Funded by National
Academy of Sciences
The Gilbert H. Glaser, M.D., Fund for
Research and Education in Neurology recently was launched at the School of
Medicine by a gift from the Glaser family. The fund will remain at Yale in
perpetuity and will provide support for students, fellows and junior faculty who
wish to embark upon careers combining research and clinical skills. The fund
also supports a series of annual lectures honoring Glaser.
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