Translational Research on Neuropharmacology and Movement Disorders
The discovery that the anaesthetic ketamine can help people with severe depression has raised hopes of finding new treatment options for the disease. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now identified novel mechanistic insights how the drug exerts its antidepressant effect. The findings have been published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
https://news.ki.se/new-findings-on-how-ketamine-prevents-depression
Ji-Seon Seo et al. found that p11 is highly expressed in ependymal cells, and is significantly decreased in patients with MDD, and in two mouse models of depression induced by chronic stress. These results identify a new role and a key molecular determinant for ependymal cell-driven CSF flow in mood disorders.
Professor Per Svenningsson from Karolinska Institutet receives funding for a five-year research project of SEK 38 million from Nordstjernan Holding AB and the Axel Johnson Group.
Read KI press release
Mantas et al. found that tyramine and TAAR1 may play a critical role in the behavioral, transcriptional, and neurochemical effects of monoamine oxidase inhibitors, providing insights into the mechanisms underlying the effects of this class of drugs.
Per Svenningsson was granted an extended Wallenberg Clinical Scholars grant for another five years.
A full-length article in the journal Nature (co-authored by Justyna Zareba-Paslawska and Per Svenningsson) demonstrates a key role for MAPT-AS1 in tauopathies, such as frontotemporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. (study funded by CBD Solutions). Read article here
From the article in “Läkartidning” (read original article here):
The Arvid Carlsson Foundation has decided to award Professor Per Svenningsson at Karolinska Institutet the foundation’s grand prize for outstanding research in the spirit of Arvid Carlsson. Per Svenningsson was rewarded for his innovative integrated animal experimental and clinical studies regarding Parkinson’s disease and depression. The prize consists of a diploma and a research grant of SEK 700,000.
A review article has been published in Molecular Psychiatry.
The review focuses on how GPCRs mediate antidepressant actions and discusses recent insights into how GPCRs regulate the pathophysiology of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have identified a protein in the brain that is important both for the function of the mood-regulating substance serotonin and for the release of stress hormones, at least in mice. The findings, which are published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, may have implications for the development of new drugs for depression and anxiety.
The Svenningsson lab was awarded a grant from the Swedish Research Council, to study Receptor-mediating mechanisms in Parkinson’s disease and depression.
Read KI’s press release here