TrkB neurotrophin receptor at the core of antidepressant effects, but how?

The role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor TrkB has been studied in the context of mood disorders and their treatments for a couple of decades. Pharmacologically diverse antidepressant drugs increase the synthesis of BDNF in the cortex (and some subcortical structures) and this effect accounts for their ability to facilitate neurotrophic processes eventually leading into heightened plasticity within the cortex. Induction of BDNF-TrkB signaling has also been associated with the mechanism of action of ketamine and more recently with some other anesthetics, even with ones not thought to possess antidepressant potential. Notably, both ketamine and conventional antidepressants activate TrkB receptor and its downstream signaling rapidly within the same time scale in the brain while electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), among the most potent inducers of BDNF, has not been unequivocally shown to produce such acute effects on TrkB. The ability of antidepressants to regulate TrkB signaling is developmentally regulated and requires an intact central nervous system. The purpose of this review is to highlight and discuss some of these peculiarities associated with the effects of ketamine and classical antidepressants and BDNF on TrkB signaling.Peer reviewe

Commentary : Commonly Used Anesthesia/Euthanasia Methods for Brain Collection Differentially Impact MAPK Activity in Male and Female C57BL/6 Mice

Non peer reviewe

Brief isoflurane anesthesia regulates striatal AKT-GSK3 beta signaling and ameliorates motor deficits in a rat model of early-stage Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative movement disorder primarily affecting the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system. The link between heightened activity of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK313) and neurodegenerative processes has encouraged investigation into the potential disease-modifying effects of novel GSK3 beta inhibitors in experimental models of PD. Therefore, the intriguing ability of several anesthetics to readily inhibit GSK3 beta within the cortex and hippocampus led us to investigate the effects of brief isoflurane anesthesia on striatal GSK3 beta signaling in nave rats and in a rat model of early-stage PD. Deep but brief (20-min) isoflurane anesthesia exposure increased the phosphorylation of GSK3 beta at the inhibitory Ser9 residue, and induced phosphorylation of AKT(Thr308) (protein kinase B; negative regulator of GSK3 beta) in the striatum of naive rats and rats with unilateral striatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion. The 6-OHDA protocol produced gradual functional deficiency within the nigrostriatal pathway, reflected as a preference for using the limb ipsilateral to the lesioned striatum at 2 weeks post 6-OHDA. Interestingly, such motor impairment was not observed in animals exposed to four consecutive isoflurane treatments (20-min anesthesia every 48 h; treatments started 7 days after 6-OHDA delivery). However, isoflurane had no effect on striatal or nigral tyrosine hydroxylase (a marker of dopaminergic neurons) protein levels. This brief report provides promising results regarding the therapeutic potential and neurobiological mechanisms of anesthetics in experimental models of PD and guides development of novel disease-modifying therapies.Peer reviewe

VGF (TLQP-62)-induced neurogenesis targets early phase neural progenitor cells in the adult hippocampus and requires glutamate and BDNF signaling

Peer reviewe

Sleep-State Dependent Alterations in Brain Functional Connectivity under Urethane Anesthesia in a Rat Model of Early-Stage Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the gradual degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, leading to striatal dopamine depletion. A partial unilateral striatal 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion causes 40-60% dopamine depletion in the lesioned rat striatum, modeling the early stage of PD. In this study, we explored the connectivity between the brain regions in partially 6-OHDA lesioned male Wistar rats under urethane anesthesia using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 5 weeks after the 6-OHDA infusion. Under urethane anesthesia, the brain fluctuates between the two states, resembling rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep states. We observed clear urethane-induced sleep-like states in 8/19 lesioned animals and 8/18 control animals. 6-OHDA lesioned animals exhibited significantly lower functional connectivity between the brain regions. However, we observed these differences only during the REM-like sleep state, suggesting the involvement of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway in REM sleep regulation. Corticocortical and corticostriatal connections were decreased in both hemispheres, reflecting the global effect of the lesion. Overall, this study describes a promising model to study PD-related sleep disorders in rats using fMRI.Peer reviewe

The Responsiveness of TrkB to BDNF and Antidepressant Drugs Is Differentially Regulated during Mouse Development

Peer reviewe

Utilization of in situ ELISA method for examining Trk receptor phosphorylation in cultured cells

Peer reviewe

A comprehensive p75 neurotrophin receptor gene network and pathway analyses identifying new target genes

P75 neurotrophic receptor (p75NTR) is an important receptor for the role of neurotrophins in modulating brain plasticity and apoptosis. The current understanding of the role of p75NTR in cellular adaptation following pathological insults remains blurred, which makes p75NTR's related signaling networks an interesting and challenging initial point of investigation. We identified p75NTR and related genes through extensive data mining of a PubMed literature search including published works related to p75NTR from the past 20 years. Bioinformatic network and pathway analyses of identified genes (n=235) were performed using ReactomeFIViz in Cytoscape based on the highly reliable Reactome functional interaction network algorithm. This approach merges interactions extracted from human curated pathways with predicted interactions from machine learning. Genome-wide pathway analysis showed total of 16 enriched hierarchical clusters. A total of 278 enriched single pathways were also identified (pPeer reviewe

Cortical Excitability and Activation of TrkB Signaling During Rebound Slow Oscillations Are Critical for Rapid Antidepressant Responses

Rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine become most evident when its psychotomimetic effects subside, but the neurobiological basis of this lag remains unclear. Laughing gas (N2O), another NMDA-R (N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor) blocker, has been reported to bring antidepressant effects rapidly upon drug discontinuation. We took advantage of the exceptional pharmacokinetic properties of N2O to investigate EEG (electroencephalogram) alterations and molecular determinants of antidepressant actions during and immediately after NMDA-R blockade. Effects of the drugs on brain activity were investigated in C57BL/6 mice using quantitative EEG recordings. Western blot and qPCR were used for molecular analyses. Learned helplessness (LH) was used to assess antidepressant-like behavior. Immediate-early genes (e.g., bdnf) and phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinasemarkers of neuronal excitabilitywere upregulated during N2O exposure. Notably, phosphorylation of BDNF receptor TrkB and GSK3 (glycogen synthase kinase 3) became regulated only gradually upon N2O discontinuation, during a brain state dominated by slow EEG activity. Subanesthetic ketamine and flurothyl-induced convulsions (reminiscent of electroconvulsive therapy) also evoked slow oscillations when their acute pharmacological effects subsided. The correlation between ongoing slow EEG oscillations and TrkB-GSK3 signaling was further strengthened utilizing medetomidine, a hypnotic-sedative agent that facilitates slow oscillations directly through the activation of (2)-adrenergic autoreceptors. Medetomidine did not, however, facilitate markers of neuronal excitability or produce antidepressant-like behavioral changes in LH. Our results support a hypothesis that transient cortical excitability and the subsequent regulation of TrkB and GSK3 signaling during homeostatic emergence of slow oscillations are critical components for rapid antidepressant responses