ArticleMolecular psychiatry2011
Altered expression of glutamate signaling, growth factor, and glia genes in the locus coeruleus of patients with major depression.
Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 192 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
192 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 361 citations in OpenAlex.
- TNF-α levels in first-episode, drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder: a case-control study and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Glial Cell Abnormalities in Major Psychiatric Diseases: A Systematic Review of Postmortem Brain Studies.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Pooled it
- The Association Between Antidepressant Effect of SSRIs and Astrocytes: Conceptual Overview and Meta-analysis of the Literature.Neurochemical research · 2021Pooled it
- Changes in RNA expression levels during antidepressant treatment: a systematic review.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2021Pooled it
- Systematic review of genome-wide gene expression studies of bipolar disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2013Pooled it
- Multi-locus genome-wide association analysis supports the role of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the etiology of major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2012Pooled it
- Protocol of the randomized double blind sham controlled AddVNS study of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation mechanisms in depression.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Synaptic potentiation is critical for rapid antidepressant response to ketamine in treatment-resistant major depression.Biological psychiatry · 2012Trial
- Fibroblast Growth Factors and Their Receptors in Major Depressive Disorder: A Scoping Review of Translational Research.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- JUND-driven stress-responsive astrocytes promote neuronal apoptosis via enhanced gap junction signaling in autism spectrum disorder.Molecular autism · 2026Article
- Review
- Curing the brain: in search for new astrocyte-specific therapies.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026Review
- FGF family in health and disease.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Cefepime Alleviates Comorbid Pain and Depression Induced by Lipopolysaccharide in Female Mice.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- AQP4-IgG and mood disorders: Case series of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Treatment with perampanel alleviates depression-like behavior in mice via modulating GluN2B expression to improve excitatory synaptic transmission.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Disrupted astrocyte-neuron glutamine-glutamate cycling in the medial prefrontal cortex contributes to depression-like behaviors.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Article
- Genetic and epigenetic analysis of plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) levels in PTSD.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Glymphatic dysfunction associated with cortisol dysregulation in major depressive disorder.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- When the Stars Misfire: Astrocytic Dysfunctions in Major Depressive Disorder.Neurochemical research · 2025Review
132 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Several studies have proposed that brain glutamate signaling abnormalities and glial pathology have a role in the etiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). These conclusions were primarily drawn from post-mortem studies in which forebrain brain regions were examined. The locus coeruleus (LC) is the primary source of extensive noradrenergic innervation of the forebrain and as such exerts a powerful regulatory role over cognitive and affective functions, which are dysregulated in MDD. Furthermore, altered noradrenergic neurotransmission is associated with depressive symptoms and is thought to have a role in the pathophysiology of MDD. In the present study we used laser-capture microdissection (LCM) to selectively harvest LC tissue from post-mortem brains of MDD patients, patients with bipolar disorder (BPD) and from psychiatrically normal subjects. Using microarray technology we examined global patterns of gene expression. Differential mRNA expression of select candidate genes was then interrogated using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH). Our findings reveal multiple signaling pathway alterations in the LC of MDD but not BPD subjects. These include glutamate signaling genes, SLC1A2, SLC1A3 and GLUL, growth factor genes FGFR3 and TrkB, and several genes exclusively expressed in astroglia. Our data extend previous findings of altered glutamate, astroglial and growth factor functions in MDD for the first time to the brainstem. These findings indicate that such alterations: (1) are unique to MDD and distinguishable from BPD, and (2) affect multiple brain regions, suggesting a whole-brain dysregulation of such functions.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.