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Updated: Sep 4, 2025
Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Kindling Mouse Model
Published on: June 12, 2018
Ketamine triggers rapid antidepressant effects by modulating synaptic plasticity in a new depressive-like mouse model
M Neus Fullana1, Verónica Paz1, Francesc Artigas1
1Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques de Barcelona (IIBB), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain; Systems Neuropharmacology Group, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
Objective:
Recently, we reported on a new MDD-like mouse model based on a regionally selective knockdown of astroglial glutamate transporters, GLAST/GLT-1, in infralimbic cortex (IL) which evokes widespread changes in mouse brain associated with the typical alterations found in MDD patients. To further characterize this new MDD-like mouse model, here we examine some transcriptional elements of glutamatergic/GABAergic neurotransmission and neuroplasticity in forebrain regions in the GLT-1 knockdown mice. Furthermore, we assess the acute ketamine effects on these transcriptional processes.
Material And Methods:
We used a small interfering RNA (siRNA) pool targeting GLT-1 mRNA to disrupt the GLT-1 transcription in mouse IL. Histological assays were performed to examine postsynaptic density protein-95 (PSD95), neuritin (NRN), glutamine acid descarboxilase-65 (GAD65), and GLT-1 mRNA expression in IL and hippocampus.
Results:
Knockdown of GLT-1 in mouse IL leads to decreased expression of PSD95 and NRN neuroplasticity mRNAs in IL and hippocampus, which was reversed by an acute dose of ketamine antidepressant. Likewise, a single dose of ketamine also increased the mRNA levels of GAD65 and GLT-1 in IL of GLT-1 knockdown mice, reaching the basal values of control mice.
Conclusions:
The glutamatergic neuronal hyperactivity and deficits in the GABA system resulting from siRNA-induced astroglial glutamate transporter knockdown in IL can compromise the integrity/plasticity of neurocircuits affected in MDD. Suitable depressive-like animal models to address the neurobiological changes in MDD are an unmet need and the development of the GLAST/GLT-1 knockdown mouse model may represent a better option to understand the rapid-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine.
