Regulation of fear extinction versus other affective behaviors by discrete cortical scaffolding complexes associated with NR2B and PKA signaling.

ABSTRACT: In patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fear evoked by trauma-related memories lasts long past the traumatic event and it is often complicated by general anxiety and depressed mood. This poses a treatment challenge, as drugs beneficial for some symptoms might exacerbate others. For example, in preclinical studies, antagonists of the NR2B subunit of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors and activators of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) act as potent antidepressants and anxiolytics, but they block fear extinction. Using mice, we attempted to overcome this problem by interfering with individual NR2B and PKA signaling complexes organized by scaffolding proteins. We infused cell-permeable Tat peptides that displaced either NR2B from receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK

SUBMITTER: Corcoran KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4930127 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature