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The Response of the ERK/MAPK Cascade to Acute Stress in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex of Chronically Stressed Rats
Author(s) -
Lam Mai Truc,
Ferland C. L.,
Schrader L. A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.714.2
Subject(s) - prefrontal cortex , mapk/erk pathway , chronic stress , creb , neuroscience , mapk cascade , extracellular , endocrinology , mechanism (biology) , medicine , signal transduction , psychology , transcription factor , chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , cognition , philosophy , epistemology , gene
The chronic variable stress (CVS) rodent model mimics the effects of chronic stress in humans and provides an animal model of stress‐induced depression. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is believed to negatively regulate the hypothalamo‐pituitary‐adrenocortical axis (HPA), a major system involved in stress response, through the release of glucocorticoids. The function of the mPFC may be dysregulated in chronic stress, mediated by cellular signaling cascades. Studying signaling mechanism changes in the mPFC is critical to improving our understanding of stress‐induced disorders. This study investigates acute stress‐mediated activation of the extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) cascade and the transcription factor cAMP response element binding (CREB) in the mPFC under control and CVS conditions through Western Blotting. Preliminary data show that CVS animals have reduced levels of ERK activation in the mPFC compared to control animals. Acute stress may act on CVS and control groups differently suggesting a differential response of the ERK/MAPK cascade to acute stress in the mPFC. This may provide a potential mechanism for dysregulation of the HPA axis under chronically stressful conditions.