Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36436457›Full record

ArticleRedox biology2022

SVCT2-mediated ascorbic acid uptake buffers stress responses via DNA hydroxymethylation reprogramming of S100 calcium-binding protein A4 gene.

Qian-Qian Han, Peng-Fei Wu, Yi-Heng Li, Yu Cao, Jian-Guo Chen, Fang Wang

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Redox biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. iScience · 2026
    Article
  4. Ascorbic acid enhances antidepressant-like efficacy of esketamine: Hippocampal TARP-γ8-containing AMPA receptors mediate synaptic modulation.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Qian-Qian HanDepartment of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
Peng-Fei WuDepartment of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; The Key Laboratory of Neurological Diseases (HUST), Ministry of Education of China, Wuhan, 430030, China; Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases, The Institute of Brain Research, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; The Key Laboratory for Drug Target Researches and Pharmacodynamic Evaluation of Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430030, China. Electronic address: wupengfeipharm@foxmail.com.
Yi-Heng LiDepartment of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
Yu CaoDepartment of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
Jian-Guo ChenDepartment of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; The Key Laboratory of Neurological Diseases (HUST), Ministry of Education of China, Wuhan, 430030, China; Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases, The Institute of Brain Research, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; The Key Laboratory for Drug Target Researches and Pharmacodynamic Evaluation of Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430030, China. Electronic address: chenj@mails.tjmu.edu.cn.
Fang WangDepartment of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; The Key Laboratory of Neurological Diseases (HUST), Ministry of Education of China, Wuhan, 430030, China; Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases, The Institute of Brain Research, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China; The Key Laboratory for Drug Target Researches and Pharmacodynamic Evaluation of Hubei Province, Wuhan, 430030, China. Electronic address: wangfangtj0322@163.com.
Huazhong University of Science and Technology · CNMinistry of Education of the People's Republic of China · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Vitamin C, a key antioxidant in the central nervous system, cycles between ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid under pathophysiological conditions. Clinical evidence supports that the absence of vitamin C may be linked to depressive symptoms, but much less is known about the mechanism. Herein, we show that chronic stress disrupts the expression of ascorbic acid transporter, sodium-dependent vitamin C transport 2, and induces a deficiency in endogenous ascorbic acid in the medial prefrontal cortex, leading to depressive-like behaviors by disturbing redox-dependent DNA methylation reprogramming. Attractively, ascorbic acid (100 mg/kg-1000 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection, as bioequivalent of an intravenous drip dose of 0.48 g-4.8 g ascorbic acid per day in humans) produces rapid-acting antidepressant effects via triggering DNA demethylation catalyzed by ten-eleven translocation dioxygenases. In particular, the mechanistic studies by both transcriptome sequencing and methylation sequencing have shown that S100 calcium binding protein A4, a potentially protective factor against oxidative stress and brain injury, mediates the antidepressant activity of ascorbic acid via activating erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase 4 (ErbB4)-brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling pathway. Overall, our findings reveal a novel nutritional mechanism that couples stress to aberrant DNA methylation underlying depressive-like behaviors. Therefore, application of vitamin C may be a potential strategy for the treatment of depression.

Indexed as

Ascorbic AcidSodium-Coupled Vitamin C TransportersBiological TransportDNAHumansS100 Calcium-Binding Protein A4Ascorbic AcidDNAS100A4 protein, humanS100 Calcium-Binding Protein A4SLC23A2 protein, humanSodium-Coupled Vitamin C TransportersAscorbic acidDepressionOxidative stressS100 calcium binding protein A4Sodium-dependent vitamin C transport 2

Identifiers

PMID36436457
PMCPMC9694147
OpenAlexW4309762938

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.