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Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Their Treatment

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Neurobiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 3498

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology and Psychiatry Research Unit, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Mental Health Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel
Interests: etiology of bipolar disorder; mechanism of mood stabilization; lithium; mitochondrial function; autophagy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Despite nearly one hundred years of translational research, we still lack clear-cut answers to the crucial question of the pathophysiology of most neuropsychiatric disorders and the molecular/cellular mechanisms of their treatment. Under the umbrella of neuropsychiatric disorders, we count disorders of affect, cognition, and behaviour that arise from aberrant cerebral function, or from indirect molecular effects of extracerebral disease.  Included in this term are addictions, psychoses, degenerative diseases, and eating, mood, neurotic, and sleep disorders. Without their biological etio-pathological rationale, drug development has stagnated. In this Special Issue, we wish to publish papers dealing with biological approaches to understanding neuropsychiatric diseases for the purpose of accelerating the discovery and development of better treatments. We welcome reports of preclinical datasets from worldwide disease cohorts to which innovative technologies have been applied to define quantifiable biological parameters for the different symptoms of these disorders. We also welcome papers that describe studies identifying molecular targets for novel drug development and predictive or molecular studies in animal models. Overall, we strive to suggest routes to new translation-evidence-based treatments in the fields of psychiatry and neurology.

Prof. Dr. Galila Agam
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders
  • molecular treatment mechanisms
  • molecular studies in animal models
  • molecular targets for novel drug development

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1758 KiB  
Article
Stress Modifies the Expression of Glucocorticoid-Responsive Genes by Acting at Epigenetic Levels in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex: Modulatory Activity of Lurasidone
by Paola Brivio, Giulia Sbrini, Letizia Tarantini, Chiara Parravicini, Piotr Gruca, Magdalena Lason, Ewa Litwa, Chiara Favero, Marco Andrea Riva, Ivano Eberini, Mariusz Papp, Valentina Bollati and Francesca Calabrese
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(12), 6197; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22126197 - 08 Jun 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2783
Abstract
Epigenetics is one of the mechanisms by which environmental factors can alter brain function and may contribute to central nervous system disorders. Alterations of DNA methylation and miRNA expression can induce long-lasting changes in neurobiological processes. Hence, we investigated the effect of chronic [...] Read more.
Epigenetics is one of the mechanisms by which environmental factors can alter brain function and may contribute to central nervous system disorders. Alterations of DNA methylation and miRNA expression can induce long-lasting changes in neurobiological processes. Hence, we investigated the effect of chronic stress, by employing the chronic mild stress (CMS) and the chronic restraint stress protocol, in adult male rats, on the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function. We focused on DNA methylation specifically in the proximity of the glucocorticoid responsive element (GRE) of the GR responsive genes Gadd45β, Sgk1, and Gilz and on selected miRNA targeting these genes. Moreover, we assessed the role of the antipsychotic lurasidone in modulating these alterations. Chronic stress downregulated Gadd45β and Gilz gene expression and lurasidone normalized the Gadd45β modification. At the epigenetic level, CMS induced hypermethylation of the GRE of Gadd45β gene, an effect prevented by lurasidone treatment. These stress-induced alterations were still present even after a period of rest from stress, indicating the enduring nature of such changes. However, the contribution of miRNA to the alterations in gene expression was moderate in our experimental conditions. Our results demonstrated that chronic stress mainly affects Gadd45β expression and methylation, effects that are prolonged over time, suggesting that stress leads to changes in DNA methylation that last also after the cessation of stress procedure, and that lurasidone is a modifier of such mechanisms. Full article
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