An international group of scientists led by Poles has discovered a mechanism that triggers stress-induced anxiety in the brain. The scientists have just published the results of their research in the journal Nature, said the co-author of the study, Prof. Ryszard Przewłocki.
The discovery was made by a team of scientists led by Dr. Robert Pawlak from the University of Leicester in England. Its co-authors are researchers from the group of prof. Ryszard Przewłocki from the Department of Molecular Neuropharmacology of the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and prof. Sadao Shiosaka of the Institute of Science and Technology in Naara, Japan.
Prof. Przewłocki explains that a protein called neuropsin is required for the formation of stress-induced neuroplastic changes and the reconstruction of nerve connections in the brain. It arises as a reaction to stress in the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center.
The research on the new mechanism of the formation of anxiety lasted three years, during which scientists examined, among others, impact of stress-induced molecular changes in the amygdala on mice behavior.
Stress causes an avoidance reaction in animals – rodents then perceive lit, open spaces as dangerous and try to avoid them. Genetic removal of neuropsin or pharmacological inhibition of its action eliminated the behavioral consequences of stress – mice were no longer afraid of dangerous places – said Dr. Robert Pawlak.
Researchers showed that removing neuropsin – or its molecular partners – from nerve cells blocked the neuronal mechanism of anxiety. We are fascinated by this discovery. We know that all elements of the neuropsin pathway in rodents can also be found in the human brain. They can play a similar role in humans, but more research is needed to assess potential treatments for stress-induced behaviors, the project manager notes.
According to prof. Przewłocki, the results of the work published in Nature suggest that neuropsin may be a target of a new anti-stress therapy. The work offers hope for the development of such a treatment and may contribute to the prevention of stress-induced neuropsychiatric disorders, adds the scientist.
As she notes, there are individual differences in susceptibility to stress, which is increasingly becoming the cause of many psychiatric illnesses. While most of us experience traumatic experiences, only a few develop stress-related illnesses such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders – phobias, panic syndromes, and generalized anxiety disorders – she explains. In his opinion, the way neuropsin functions may be at least in part responsible for these differences and the occurrence of stress-related diseases.
Since its discovery, neuropsin has been the subject of intense research. Prof. Przewłocki explains that the scientific literature contains many publications suggesting its participation in the processes of learning and memory. Until now, however, little was known about the biochemical mechanism by which neuropsin works in the processing of emotions. The work Neuropsin cleaves EphB2 in the amygdala to control of the survey, published in Nature, explains this issue.