Hemin Feng

All Publications

• Cholecystokinin B receptor antagonists for the treatment of depression via blocking long-term potentiation in the basolateral amygdala. Molecular psychiatry Zhang, X., Asim, M., Fang, W., Md Monir, H., Wang, H., Kim, K., Feng, H., Wang, S., Gao, Q., Lai, Y., He, J. 2023

  Abstract

  Depression is a common and severe mental disorder. Evidence suggested a substantial causal relationship between stressful life events and the onset of episodes of major depression. However, the stress-induced pathogenesis of depression and the related neural circuitry is poorly understood. Here, we investigated how cholecystokinin (CCK) and CCKBR in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) are implicated in stress-mediated depressive-like behavior. The BLA mediates emotional memories, and long-term potentiation (LTP) is widely considered a trace of memory. We identified that the cholecystokinin knockout (CCK-KO) mice impaired LTP in the BLA, while the application of CCK4 induced LTP after low-frequency stimulation (LFS). The entorhinal cortex (EC) CCK neurons project to the BLA and optogenetic activation of EC CCK afferents to BLA-promoted stress susceptibility through the release of CCK. We demonstrated that EC CCK neurons innervate CCKBR cells in the BLA and CCK-B receptor knockout (CCKBR-KO) mice impaired LTP in the BLA. Moreover, the CCKBR antagonists also blocked high-frequency stimulation (HFS) induced LTP formation in the BLA. Notably, CCKBR antagonists infusion into the BLA displayed an antidepressant-like effect in the chronic social defeat stress model. Together, these results indicate that CCKBR could be a potential target to treat depression.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41380-023-02127-7

  View details for PubMedID 37365241

  View details for PubMedCentralID 8813060