Major depressive disorder is a mental illness afflicting approximately 16% of the world population. Currently available interventions including monoamine-based pharmacotherapies require several weeks to months for beneficial effects to occur. In addition, these treatments are often accompanied by undesirable side effects. Therefore, there is an urgent need for better antidepressant medications, with a faster onset of action, which will also be effective in patients who do not respond to classical antidepressants. Recent clinical findings suggest that psilocybin ? a hallucinogenic serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonist, exerts fast-acting and long-lasting antidepressant actions in patients suffering from major depression. Despite these striking effects, a number of alterations in various mental domains, including sensory perception and thought processes, precludes the routine use of psilocybin and other hallucinogens in daily clinical practice. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are critical mediators of cell signaling. Although recognized as capable of activating G proteins in a monomeric form, numerous studies reveal their possible association into hetero-oligomers, enabling allosteric crosstalk between receptor protomers. We previously reported that 5-HT2AR and metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) are able to interact physically to form a GPCR complex. Results from earlier versions of this R01 grant showed that at least part of the cellular signaling and psychosis-like behaviors induced by hallucinogenic 5- HT2AR agonists require expression of the 5-HT2AR-mGluR2 heteromer in the mouse frontal cortex. However, the ability of cortical 5-HT2AR-mGluR2 to affect behavioral states associated with depression upon hallucinogen administration remains to be elucidated. Similarly, as the functional importance of GPCR oligomerization remains controversial, additional studies related to basic structural and signaling properties of the 5-HT2AR-mGluR2 complex are needed. Our published data and the preliminary data presented here support our working hypothesis that inter-family GPCR heteromerization affects structure, sub-cellular localization and function of both 5-HT2AR and mGluR2 in living mammalian cells. Our data are also consonant with the hypothesis that a single dose of hallucinogenic 5-HT2AR agonists induces fast-acting and long-lasting effects on remission of behavioral states associated with depression, and that these therapeutic-related phenotypes require expression of 5-HT2AR and mGluR2 as a GPCR heteromer in the frontal cortex of mice. These data set the stage for a uniquely comprehensive analysis of the molecular mechanism underlying the antidepressant effects of hallucinogens, with the ultimate goal of developing safer, more effective, and non-hallucinogenic depression treatment strategies.

Public Health Relevance

Recent clinical studies have demonstrated that a single dose of the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin induces rapid and sustained antidepressant effects. Although this finding has been met with enthusiasm, hallucinogens? widespread use is limited by their abuse potential and psychedelic properties. The proposed studies aim at understanding the molecular mechanism underlying the antidepressant action of hallucinogens in an effort to develop novel pharmacotherapies, which will mimic psilocybin?s antidepressant effect but lack its undesirable hallucinogenic properties.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01MH084894-10
Application #
9748153
Study Section
Biophysics of Neural Systems Study Section (BPNS)
Program Officer
Nadler, Laurie S
Project Start
2009-07-20
Project End
2024-06-30
Budget Start
2019-09-01
Budget End
2020-06-30
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2019
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Virginia Commonwealth University
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
105300446
City
Richmond
State
VA
Country
United States
Zip Code
23298
de la Fuente Revenga, Mario; Ibi, Daisuke; Saunders, Justin M et al. (2018) HDAC2-dependent Antipsychotic-like Effects of Chronic Treatment with the HDAC Inhibitor SAHA in Mice. Neuroscience 388:102-117
Ma, Sai; de la Fuente Revenga, Mario; Sun, Zhixiong et al. (2018) Cell-type-specific brain methylomes profiled via ultralow-input microfluidics. Nat Biomed Eng 2:183-194
Fomsgaard, Luna; Moreno, Jose L; de la Fuente Revenga, Mario et al. (2018) Differences in 5-HT2A and mGlu2 Receptor Expression Levels and Repressive Epigenetic Modifications at the 5-HT2A Promoter Region in the Roman Low- (RLA-I) and High- (RHA-I) Avoidance Rat Strains. Mol Neurobiol 55:1998-2012
Mitchell, A C; Javidfar, B; Pothula, V et al. (2018) MEF2C transcription factor is associated with the genetic and epigenetic risk architecture of schizophrenia and improves cognition in mice. Mol Psychiatry 23:123-132
Hideshima, Kelsey S; Hojati, Ashkhan; Saunders, Justin M et al. (2018) Role of mGlu2 in the 5-HT2A receptor-dependent antipsychotic activity of clozapine in mice. Psychopharmacology (Berl) :
López-Giménez, Juan F; González-Maeso, Javier (2018) Hallucinogens and Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor-Mediated Signaling Pathways. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 36:45-73
Mato, Susana; Pilar-Cuéllar, Fuencisla; Valdizán, Elsa M et al. (2018) Selective up-regulation of cannabinoid CB1 receptor coupling to Go-proteins in suicide victims with mood disorders. Biochem Pharmacol 157:258-265
Lopez-Gimenez, Juan F; de la Fuente Revenga, Mario; Ruso-Julve, Fulgencio et al. (2017) Validation of schizophrenia gene expression profile in a preclinical model of maternal infection during pregnancy. Schizophr Res 189:217-218
Fribourg, Miguel; Logothetis, Diomedes E; González-Maeso, Javier et al. (2017) Elucidation of molecular kinetic schemes from macroscopic traces using system identification. PLoS Comput Biol 13:e1005376
Gaitonde, Supriya A; González-Maeso, Javier (2017) Contribution of heteromerization to G protein-coupled receptor function. Curr Opin Pharmacol 32:23-31

Showing the most recent 10 out of 45 publications