Adriana Bobinchock
Researchers at McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School, have identified a protein in the brain that serves as a trigger for the body’s innate fear response. This discovery suggests a new potential target for the development of new medications aimed at treating anxiety, particularly generalized anxiety disorder, a condition that afflicts millions.
In a paper published in the current issue of Cell, Vadim Bolshakov, PhD, director of the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at McLean and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and his colleagues report mice lacking the transient receptor potential channel 5 (TRPC5) gene showed diminished fear levels in response to stimuli that they normally would fear innately, compared to normal mice.
“This is the first demonstration that this protein is implicated in fear-related behaviors,” said lead author Bolshakov. “By identifying this trigger, we now have a greater likelihood of developing medications that will turn off the fear switch in the brain, and therefore significantly reduce anxiety.“
The study is the collaborative effort of Bolshakov’s laboratory and that of David Clapham, MD, PhD, the Aldo R. Castenada Professor of Cardiovascular Research at Children’s Hospital Boston, and professor of Neurobiology and Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
In the study, the researchers looked at the neurons in the amygdala of mice lacking the TRPC5 gene and discovered that they did not fire as well as those in the brains of normal mice. At the same time, neurons in the same region of the brain of the mice missing the TRPC5 gene were not as sensitive to the neuropeptide cholecystokinine, commonly released in the brain during situations of innate fear or anxiety, explained Bolshakov.
According to Clapham, while the identified protein is found throughout the brain, it is highly concentrated in the amygdala, the region of the brain implicated in emotional responses.
“The amygdalae is where all of our emotions originate from, including learned and innate fear response,” said Clapham. “What we found with our work was that the mice who did not have the TRPC5 protein, no longer showed fear-related behaviors when faced with a situations that would typically cause them anxiety.“
Bolshakov explained that the mice lacking the gene, for example, would show no fear in exploring places where they normally would fear to tread. The mice also were not as fearful of new social interactions with other mice.
“This is the first time this gene has been implicated in anxiety-related behaviors,” he said. “We have learned something at the level of fundamental science, but, at a practical level, it suggests some new potential molecular targets for treatments, some new kinds of treatments.“
“These experiments provide genetic evidence that TRPC5…has an essential function in innate fear,” the paper concludes.
Perhaps a new drug could be developed to block the function of this protein or the pathway through which the protein travels in the brain cells, Bolshakov said.
“This could give us a nice tool with which to treat anxiety,” he added.
Riccio A, Li Y, Moon J, et al. Essential Role for TRPC5 in Amygdala Function and Fear-Related Behavior. Cell 2009 May;doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.03.039 Â [Abstract]