Project Summary

William A. Carlezon Jr., Ph.D. (Independent Investigator 2005) of McLean Hospital/Harvard University, aims to study the role of a certain protein, called SPRY, in the regulation of neurogenesis, or new nerve cell growth in the brain, which can result from antidepressant and electroconvulsive treatments. Although a relationship between cellular proliferation and the therapeutic effects of these treatments is known, what factors trigger and maintain this process remains unknown. In rat neurogenesis studies, Dr. Carlezon has found ECS dramatically reduces expression in the prefrontal cortex of a factor called Sprouty (SPRY), which normally inhibits growth factors. The findings suggest ECS’s ability to decrease SPRY could be triggering increased neurogenesis or cellular proliferation. In this project, Dr. Carlezon proposes studying if antidepressant drugs also decrease SPRY expression. Such a finding would indicate that reduction of SPRY is common to different antidepressant treatments. But if antidepressants do not decrease SPRY, such a finding might help to explain differences in the efficacy of ECS and antidepressants. Dr. Carlezon will also use techniques to block SPRY function in specific brain regions of animals and determine if it triggers cellular proliferation or has antidepressant effects. Findings might lead to new antidepressants designed to inhibit SPRY to increase neurogenesis.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Unipolar

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