Antidepressive effects of targeting ELK-1 signal transduction

Nat Med. 2018 May;24(5):591-597. doi: 10.1038/s41591-018-0011-0. Epub 2018 May 7.

Abstract

Depression, a devastating psychiatric disorder, is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Current antidepressants address specific symptoms of the disease, but there is vast room for improvement 1 . In this respect, new compounds that act beyond classical antidepressants to target signal transduction pathways governing synaptic plasticity and cellular resilience are highly warranted2-4. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway is implicated in mood regulation5-7, but its pleiotropic functions and lack of target specificity prohibit optimal drug development. Here, we identified the transcription factor ELK-1, an ERK downstream partner 8 , as a specific signaling module in the pathophysiology and treatment of depression that can be targeted independently of ERK. ELK1 mRNA was upregulated in postmortem hippocampal tissues from depressed suicides; in blood samples from depressed individuals, failure to reduce ELK1 expression was associated with resistance to treatment. In mice, hippocampal ELK-1 overexpression per se produced depressive behaviors; conversely, the selective inhibition of ELK-1 activation prevented depression-like molecular, plasticity and behavioral states induced by stress. Our work stresses the importance of target selectivity for a successful approach for signal-transduction-based antidepressants, singles out ELK-1 as a depression-relevant transducer downstream of ERK and brings proof-of-concept evidence for the druggability of ELK-1.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Antidepressive Agents / pharmacology*
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Depression / blood
  • Depression / genetics
  • Depression / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Hippocampus / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuronal Plasticity
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects*
  • Stress, Psychological / complications
  • ets-Domain Protein Elk-1 / blood
  • ets-Domain Protein Elk-1 / genetics
  • ets-Domain Protein Elk-1 / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antidepressive Agents
  • RNA, Messenger
  • ets-Domain Protein Elk-1