Cited by 177Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchTreatment of Major DepressionTryptophan and brain disorders

Reduced expression of glutamate transporters vGluT1, EAAT2 and EAAT4 in learned helpless rats, an animal model of depression

Zink, M., Vollmayr, B., Gebicke-Haerter, P.J., Henn, F.A.·2010·Neuropharmacology

Abstract

Background It has been widely accepted that glial pathology and disturbed synaptic transmission contribute to the neurobiology of depression. Apart from monoaminergic alterations, an influence of glutamatergic signal transduction has been reported. Therefore, gene expression of glutamate transporters that strictly control synaptic glutamate concentrations have to be assessed in animal models of stress and depression.Methods We performed in situ-hybridizations in learned helplessness rats, a well established animal model of depression, to assess vGluT1 and EAAT1-4. Sprague-Dawley rats of two inbred lines were tested for helpless behavior and grouped into three cohorts according to the number of failures to stop foot shock currents by lever pressing.Results Helpless animals showed a significantly suppressed expression of the glial glutamate transporter EAAT2 (rodent nomenclature GLT1) in hippocampus and cerebral cortex compared to littermates with low failure rate and not helpless animals. This finding was validated on protein level using immunohistochemistry. Additionally, expression levels of EAAT4 and the vesicular transporter vGluT1 were reduced in helpless animals. In contrast, the transcript levels of EAAT1 (GLAST) and EAAT3 (EAAC1) were not significantly altered.Conclusions These results strongly suggest reduced astroglial glutamate uptake and implicate increased glutamate levels in learned helplessness. The findings are in concert with antidepressant effects of NMDA-receptor antagonists and the hypotheses that impaired astroglial functions contribute to the pathogenesis of affective disorders.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2009.09.005

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  • Learned helpless rats have reduced glutamate transporter expression.

    “Mice with reduced glutamate transporter GLT-1 expression in habenular astrocytes are more stress-susceptible and exhibit increased tail-suspension immobility at baseline [200], in agreement with reduced glutamate transporter expression in learned helpless rats [201].”

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Authors
Zink, M., Vollmayr, B., Gebicke-Haerter, P. J., & Henn, F. A.
Affiliations
  • Central Institute of Mental Health (DE)
  • Brookhaven National Laboratory (US)
Corresponding author
Zink, M.
Venue
Neuropharmacology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-02
Volume
58
Issue
2
Pages
465-473
ISSN
0028-3908 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2043713804
Cited by
177
References
81
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 17
FWCI
4.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Neuropharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Institutional Repository (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
Keywords
glutamate transporters, VGLUT1, GLT-1, EAAT4, GLAST, EAAT3, learned helplessness, depression, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, glutamatergic signaling, NMDA receptor antagonists, gene expression
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Cerebral Cortex, Depressive Disorder, Disease Models, Animal, Helplessness, Learned, Hippocampus, Male, Rats, Inbred Strains, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 1, Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2, Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 3, Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 4, Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 1, Rats

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