Eero Castrén group
| Research | People | Selected publications |
Sigrid Jusélius Laboratory
Regulation of neuronal plasticity and neurotrophin signaling in the adult brain
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Eero Castrén Sigrid Jusélius Professor in Neuroscience, Research Director P.O. Box 56, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Phone: +358-9-191 57626 Fax: +358-9-191 57620 E-mail: eero-dot-castren-at-helsinki-dot-fi |
Our group is investigating and developing ways to induce neuronal plasticity and neurotrophic factor signaling in the central nervous system. We have been particularly interested in the ability of antidepressants and other drugs acting on the CNS to influence neuronal plasticity in adult brain. We have previously shown a critical role of neurotrophin BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and its receptor TrkB in learning, memory, and emotionality and demonstrated that neurotrophin signaling plays a critical role in the mechanism of action of several drugs, including antidepressants, opioid analgesics, and neuroprotective agents. We have demonstrated that antidepressant drugs, by acting through the BDNF-trkB system, reactivate developmental-like plasticity in the adult visual cortex. As a translational extension of these findings, clinical trials are ongoing to test whether antidepressant drug treatment can be used for the treatment of amblyopia in adult humans. We have recently provided evidence, using fear conditioning paradigm, that the synergy between antidepressant drug treatment and exposure therapy is based on the reactivation of developmental-like plasticity in amygdala. We are using cultured neurons, DNA microarrays, and epigenetic mechanisms to uncover the effects and mechanisms of neurotrophins and neuropsychiatric drugs in the brain. Future aims are to exploit our models to elucidate the roles of neurotrophins and the epigenetic regulation of the BDNF gene in the normal brain as well as in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, to understand the roles and consequences of neurotrophin-mediated plastic responses in drug action, and to develop new models to search for drugs that will influence the effects of endogenous neurotrophins in the brain.