News
May 16, 2012
Researchers
at the UH Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling (CNRCS) have found a novel
receptor pathway which is involved in anxiety. The results appear in a new paper entitled “Anxiety in liver X receptor
β knockout female mice with loss of glutamic acid decarboxylase in ventromedial
prefrontal cortex.” The paper appeared in Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences of the United States of America, the official journal of the
National Academy. LXRβ is a member of the nuclear receptor
supergene family of transcription factors which has essential functions in the
brain and spinal cord. Transcription factors regulate the rate at which
specific genes are transcribed. Tan, co-first author Yu-bing Dai and their
colleagues discovered that loss of LXRβ affects the prefrontal cortex and
amygdala. The prefrontal cortex regulates impulses, emotions, and behavior by
exerting inhibitory control on the amygdala, the emotion-processing region of
the brain. “LXRβ plays
a key role in neurological development and therefore is of great interest to
our lab,” says Xin-jie Tan, research assistant professor. “These data expose a
novel approach for studying anxiety in
human females.” Looking
ahead, the team hopes to see their research applied in clinical studies to
better understand the cause of anxiety disorders, which are the most prevalent
mental disorders in adolescents in the United States. These anxiety disorders
affect female more than male adolescents and involve feelings of fear and worry
that can lead to compulsive behaviors, depression and substance abuse. Established
in 1914, PNAS is among most-cited multidisciplinary scientific research
journals and reports on the progressive research of the Academy. The
circulation reaches over 3,000 institutions in more than 60 countries, including
more than 2,200 Academy members and more than 400 foreign associates. Established
in 2009, CNRCS is the focal point of the UH health initiative. Led by Dr.
Jan-Åke Gustafsson, a world-renowned expert in the field of nuclear receptors,
CNRCS researchers are involved in many aspects of nuclear receptor research,
all focused on understanding the roles of these receptors in health and
disease. CNRCS researchers are working toward the goal of finding new
treatments for an array of significant diseases including cancer, diabetes and
metabolic syndrome and degenerative neurologic diseases. Working from the
Center's world-class labs, CNRCS researchers combine interdisciplinary research
and dynamic collaboration with the Texas Medical Center and industry partners. To view the
abstract or full text, visit http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/04/19/1205189109.abstract. ###