Ketamine activates adult-born immature granule neurons to rapidly alleviate depression-like behaviors in mice

Radhika Rawat*, Elif Tunc-Ozcan, Tammy L. McGuire, Chian Yu Peng, John A. Kessler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ketamine treatment decreases depressive symptoms within hours, but the mechanisms mediating these rapid antidepressant effects are unclear. Here, we demonstrate that activity of adult-born immature granule neurons (ABINs) in the mouse hippocampal dentate gyrus is both necessary and sufficient for the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine. Ketamine treatment activates ABINs in parallel with its behavioral effects in both stressed and unstressed mice. Chemogenetic inhibition of ABIN activity blocks the antidepressant effects of ketamine, indicating that this activity is necessary for the behavioral effects. Conversely, chemogenetic activation of ABINs without any change in neuron numbers mimics both the cellular and the behavioral effects of ketamine, indicating that increased activity of ABINs is sufficient for rapid antidepressant effects. These findings thus identify a specific cell population that mediates the antidepressant actions of ketamine, indicating that ABINs can potentially be targeted to limit ketamine’s side effects while preserving its therapeutic efficacy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number2650
JournalNature communications
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022

Funding

We thank the Northwestern University Behavioral Phenotyping Core facility for their assistance. This work was supported by NIH Grant F30MH124269 to R.R., NIH Grant K99MH125016 to E.T.-O., NIH grant R01 MH114923 to J.A.K., NIH grant T32GM008152, and the Davee Foundation. We thank the Northwestern University Behavioral Phenotyping Core facility for their assistance. This work was supported by NIH Grant F30MH124269 to R.R., NIH Grant K99MH125016 to E.T.-O., NIH grant R01 MH114923 to J.A.K., NIH grant T32GM008152, and the Davee Foundation.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General
  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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