scholarly journals MTORC1 signaling as a biomarker in major depressive disorder and its pharmacological modulation by novel rapid-acting antidepressants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 204512532110368
Author(s):  
Tomasz Cholewinski ◽  
Diana Pereira ◽  
Matthijs Moerland ◽  
Gabriel E. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Mononuclear Cells ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin ◽  
Antidepressant Drug ◽  
Ex Vivo Model ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽  
Mtorc1 Signaling

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a multifactorial psychiatric disorder with obscure pathophysiology. A biomarker-based approach in combination with standardized interview-based instruments is needed to identify MDD subtypes and novel therapeutic targets. Recent findings support the impairment of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) in MDD. No well-established biomarkers of mTORC1 disease- and treatment-modulated activity are currently available for use in early phase antidepressant drug (AD) development. This review aims to summarize biomarkers of mTORC1 activity in MDD and to suggest how these could be implemented in future early clinical trials on mTORC1 modulating ADs. Therefore, a PubMed-based narrative literature review of the mTORC1 involvement in MDD was performed. We have summarized recent pre-clinical and clinical findings linking the MDD to the impaired activity of several key biomarkers related to mTORC1. Also, cases of restoration of these impairments by classical ADs and novel fast-acting investigational ADs are summarized. The presented biomarkers may be used to monitor pharmacological effects by novel rapid-acting mTORC1-targeting ADs. Based on findings in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we argue that those may serve as an ex vivo model for evaluation of mTORC1 activity and propose the use of the summarized biomarkers for this purpose. This could both facilitate the selection of a pharmacodynamically active dose and guide future early clinical efficacy studies in MDD. In conclusion, this review provides a blueprint for the rational development of rapid-acting mTORC1-targeting ADs.

scholarly journals Exosomal let-7e, miR-21-5p, miR-145, miR-146a and miR-155 in Predicting Antidepressants Response in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1428
Author(s):  
Yi-Yung Hung ◽  
Chen-Kai Chou ◽  
Yi-Chien Yang ◽  
Hung-Chun Fu ◽  
El-Wui Loh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Mononuclear Cells ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Antidepressant Treatment ◽  
Toll Like Receptor 4 ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽  
Clinical Changes ◽  
Serum Exosomes

The intracellular microRNAs that negatively regulate Toll-like receptor 4 signaling pathways in peripheral blood mononuclear cells are associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, that the distribution of these microRNAs in exosomes could be a biomarker of central nervous system diseases is just beginning to be explored. In the present study, we isolated serum exosomes from patients with MDD and healthy controls to explore the levels of exosomal microRNAs, including let-7e, miR-21-5p, miR-223, miR-145, miR-146a, and miR-155. We also investigated the changes of these exosomal microRNAs after antidepressant treatment and their association with clinical changes in scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. An ANCOVA adjusted by age, sex, BMI, and smoking showed higher expression levels of miR-146a (p = 0.006) in patients with MDD compared to controls. Patients who achieved remission showed significantly lower let-7e, miR-21-5p, miR-145, miR-146a, and miR-155 levels before treatment and increased levels after antidepressant treatment compared with the non-remission group. Through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, let-7e, miR-145, and miR-146a showed acceptable discrimination between the remission and non-remission groups, whereas miR-21-5p and miR-155 showed poor discrimination. These findings demonstrate that exosomal microRNAs may play essential roles in predicting antidepressants response.

scholarly journals No evidence for differential gene expression in major depressive disorder PBMCs, but robust evidence of elevated biological ageing.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J Cole ◽  
Alison McColl ◽  
Robin Shaw ◽  
Mary-Ellen Lynall ◽  
Philip J Cowen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Mononuclear Cells ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽  
Biological Ageing ◽  
Blood Mononuclear Cells

Background The increasingly compelling data supporting the involvement of immunobiological mechanisms in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) might provide some explanation of the variance in this heterogeneous condition. Peripheral blood measures of cytokines and chemokines constitute the bulk of evidence with consistent meta-analytic data implicating raised proinflammatory cytokines such as IL6, IL1β and TNF. Among the potential mechanisms linking immunobiological changes to affective neurobiology is the accelerated biological ageing seen in MDD, particularly via the senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP). However, the cellular source of immunobiological markers remains unclear. Aims Pre-clinical evidence suggests a role for peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), thus here we aimed to explore the transcriptomic profile using RNA sequencing in PBMCs in a clinical sample of people with various levels of depression and treatment response comparing it with that in healthy controls (HCs). Method Transcriptomic analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Results The data showed no robust signal differentiating MDD and HCs. There was, however, significant evidence of elevated biological ageing in MDD vs HC. Conclusions Future work should endeavour to expand clinical sample sizes and reduce clinical heterogeneity. The exploration of RNA-seq signatures in other leukocyte populations and advances in RNA sequencing at the level of the single cell may help uncover more subtle differences. However, currently the subtlety of any PBMC signature mitigates against its convincing use as a diagnostic or predictive biomarker.

scholarly journals Convergent molecular, cellular, and cortical neuroimaging signatures of major depressive disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (40) ◽  
pp. 25138-25149
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Anderson ◽  
Meghan A. Collins ◽  
Ru Kong ◽  
Kacey Fang ◽  
Jingwei Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Disorder ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
In Vivo Imaging ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Down Regulation ◽  
Major Depressive

Major depressive disorder emerges from the complex interactions of biological systems that span genes and molecules through cells, networks, and behavior. Establishing how neurobiological processes coalesce to contribute to depression requires a multiscale approach, encompassing measures of brain structure and function as well as genetic and cell-specific transcriptional data. Here, we examine anatomical (cortical thickness) and functional (functional variability, global brain connectivity) correlates of depression and negative affect across three population-imaging datasets: UK Biobank, Brain Genomics Superstruct Project, and Enhancing NeuroImaging through Meta Analysis (ENIGMA; combined n ≥ 23,723). Integrative analyses incorporate measures of cortical gene expression, postmortem patient transcriptional data, depression genome-wide association study (GWAS), and single-cell gene transcription. Neuroimaging correlates of depression and negative affect were consistent across three independent datasets. Linking ex vivo gene down-regulation with in vivo neuroimaging, we find that transcriptional correlates of depression imaging phenotypes track gene down-regulation in postmortem cortical samples of patients with depression. Integrated analysis of single-cell and Allen Human Brain Atlas expression data reveal somatostatin interneurons and astrocytes to be consistent cell associates of depression, through both in vivo imaging and ex vivo cortical gene dysregulation. Providing converging evidence for these observations, GWAS-derived polygenic risk for depression was enriched for genes expressed in interneurons, but not glia. Underscoring the translational potential of multiscale approaches, the transcriptional correlates of depression-linked brain function and structure were enriched for disorder-relevant molecular pathways. These findings bridge levels to connect specific genes, cell classes, and biological pathways to in vivo imaging correlates of depression.

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