title: Conditional Inhibition of Adult Neurogenesis by Inducible and Targeted Deletion of ERK5 MAP Kinase Is Not Associated with Anxiety/Depression-Like Behaviors
abstract: Although there is evidence that adult neurogenesis contributes to the therapeutic efficacy of chronic antidepressant treatment for anxiety and depression disorders, the role of adult neurogenesis in the onset of depression-related symptoms is still open to question. To address this issue, we utilized a transgenic mouse strain in which adult neurogenesis was specifically and conditionally impaired by Nestin-CreER-driven, inducible knockout (icKO) of erk5 MAP kinase in Nestin-expressing neural progenitors of the adult mouse brain upon tamoxifen administration. Here, we report that inhibition of adult neurogenesis by this mechanism is not associated with an increase of the baseline anxiety or depression in non-stressed animals, nor does it increase the animal's susceptibility to depression after chronic unpredictable stress treatment. Our findings indicate that impaired adult neurogenesis does not lead to anxiety or depression.
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Program in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Junhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Program in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Program in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Yung-Wei
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Program in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Glen M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Abel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington 98195.
authors.forename: Daniel R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Storm
authors.affiliation: Toxicology Program in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences ; Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington 98195.
authors.forename: Zhengui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xia
keywords: ERK5; MAP kinase; anxiety; depression; neurogenesis