Elucidating molecular mechanisms underlying stress vulnerability

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K09807
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Yamaguchi University
• Principal Investigator: UCHIDA Shusaku 山口大学, 医学部附属病院, 講師 (10403669)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: ストレス / うつ病 / レジリエンス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study demonstrated the role of hippocampal neurogenesis in the development of stress vulnerability during adulthood in mice. To this end, we used two inbred mouse strain: C57Bl/6J (B6) and BALB/c (BALB) as stress-resilient and stress-vulnerable model, respectively. BALB mice had reduced hippocampal neurogenesis at postnatal day 28, when compared to B6 mice, suggesting that hippocampal neurogenesis during development may modulate stress response later in life. To test this possibility, we injected memantine which can enhance hippocampal neurogenesis in BALB mice and investigated chronic stress-induced behaviors. We found that BALB mice given memantine did not show any behavioral abnormality following chronic stress episode. These results suggest that hippocampal neurogenesis plays an important role in the development of stress vulnerability/resilience. We also found that stathmin-mediated microtubule dynamics may control stress response in adulthood.

Free Research Field

分子精神医学