Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Sci. STKE, 6 December 2005
Vol. 2005, Issue 313, p. tw431
[DOI: 10.1126/stke.3132005tw431]

EDITORS' CHOICE

PHARMACOLOGY Galanin Receptor Antagonists as Antidepressants

The neuropeptide galanin has roles regulating a broad range of processes in the central and peripheral nervous systems, including promotion of anxiety and depression. Swanson et al. used two small-molecule pharmacological inhibitors that selectively inhibit the Gal3 receptor subtype to help define the effects mediated through this receptor in behavioral studies with rodent models of anxiety and depression. They compared the effects of the inhibitors to those of chlordiazepoxide (a benzodiazepine anxiolytic) and fluoxetine (an antidepressant). In several tests, like the social interaction test and the forced swim test, the Gal3 inhibitors showed acute and chronic antidepressant and anxiolytic effects equal to those of the control drugs. The authors propose that Gal3-selective agonists may be useful therapeutics.

C. J. Swanson, T. P. Blackburn, X. Zhang, K. Zheng, Z.-Q. D. Xu, T. Hökfelt, T. D. Wolinsky, M. J. Konkel, H. Chen, H. Zhong, M. W. Walker, D. A. Craig, C. P. G. Gerald, T. A. Branchek, Anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like profiles of the galanin-3 receptor (Gal3) antagonists SNAP 37889 and SNAP 398299. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102, 17489-17494 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: Galanin Receptor Antagonists as Antidepressants. Sci. STKE 2005, tw431 (2005).

To Advertise     Find Products

Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (online), 1945-0877 (print). Pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882