Focused microwave irradiation-assisted immunohistochemistry to study effects of ketamine on phospho-ERK expression in the mouse brain

Brain Research
Alda Fernandes, Yu-Wen Li

Abstract

Ketamine produces rapid and long-lasting antidepressant effects in depressive patients. Preclinical studies demonstrate that ketamine stimulates AMPA receptor transmission and activates BDNF/TrkB-Akt/ERK-mTOR signaling cascades, leading to a sustained increase in synaptic protein synthesis and strengthening of synaptic plasticity, a potential mechanism underlying the antidepressant effects. The purpose of this study was to develop an immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay to map the distribution of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation in the mouse brain in response to systemic ketamine treatment. We established a focused microwave irradiation-assisted IHC assay to detect phosphorylated (phospho) proteins including phospho-ERK, phospho- cAMP-response- element-binding protein (CREB), phospho- glutamate receptor 1 (GluR1) and phospho- calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) with greater sensitivity and reproducibility in comparison to conventional IHC methods. A single dose of ketamine produced a robust, dose- and time-dependent increase in phospho-ERK immunoreactive (phospho-ERK-ir) neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the central nucleus of the amygdala. Phospho-ERK-ir neurons in th...Continue Reading

References

Jan 11, 2013·Neuropsychopharmacology : Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology·Jeffrey BurgdorfJoseph R Moskal
Jan 11, 2014·Frontiers in Pharmacology·Caroline A Browne, Irwin Lucki

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Citations

Sep 20, 2019·Genes·Carlo Maria Di LiegroItalia Di Liegro
Sep 24, 2019·Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry·Joanna SniecikowskaMarcin Kolaczkowski
Jun 4, 2021·Translational Neuroscience·Nan ZhangZhongchun Liu

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