SAN FRANCISCO — Blocking a protein in the brain that prevents
neural stem cells from maturing may lead to a potential new way
to treat depression, one of the most common mental disorders in
the United States. After the gene that makes the protein, called
sFRP3, was deleted in mice, their brains behaved as though they
were on antidepressants, researchers from Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore found. When sFRP3 is overactive, neural
stem cells can’t mature into neurons, a process that’s been
linked to the success of antidepressant treatments, according to
the study published Thursday in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Research has shown that drugs that regulate the brain chemical
serotonin, such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,
a class that includes Eli Lilly & Co.’s Prozac, also work by
removing the inhibition on neuron growth. That’s part of the
reason it can take as long as a month of treatment for patients
to feel relief after they begin treatment, said Hongjun Song, a
study author and direct