Recently, Professor XIE Peng, chief expert of the Department of Neurology at the Chongqing Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Disease Research at Yongchuan Hospital and director of the National Health Commission Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment on Brain Functional Diseases at The First Affiliated Hospital, Chonqing Medical University, along with Dr. CHENG Ke's team, have achieved critical progress in the research of depression pathogenesis. Their latest research findings, "Deficit of neuronal EAAT2 impairs hippocampus CA3 neuron’s activity and may induce depressive-like behaviours," were published in the internationally renowned journal, Journal of Advanced Research (Zone 1 of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), which first reveals the new mechanism where the absence of glutamate transporter EAAT2 in hippocampal CA3 neurons regulates neuronal activity to induce depression-like behaviours, providing a new target for antidepressant drug development.
This study not only deepens the understanding of abnormal glutamatergic systems in depression but also identifies EAAT2 in CA3 neurons as a key therapeutic target for depression for the first time. Prof. Xie and Dr. Cheng stated that theoretically, they have clarified for the first time the molecular mechanism by which EAAT2 in the CA3 region regulates neuronal activity; practically, novel drugs developed targeting EAAT2 are expected to provide more solid theoretical evidence for existing antidepressant treatments.
This is another landmark achievement in the field of mental illness mechanism research by the Chongqing Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Disease Research at Yongchuan Hospital. The team will continue to further explore the synergistic effects of different brain regions in depression and clinical intervention strategies, promoting the translation of these results into clinical applications.
(Translated by AI)
