title: The Role of Protein Kinase A in Anxiety Behaviors.
abstract: This review focuses on the genetic and other evidence supporting the notion that the cyclic AMP (cAMP) signaling pathway and its mediator, the protein kinase A (PKA) enzyme, which respond to environmental stressors and regulate stress responses, are central to the pathogenesis of disorders related to anxiety. We describe the PKA pathway and review in vitro animal studies (mouse) and other evidence that support the importance of PKA in regulating behaviors that lead to anxiety. Since cAMP signaling and PKA have been pharmacologically exploited since the 1940s (even before the identification of cAMP as a second messenger with PKA as its mediator) for a number of disorders from asthma to cardiovascular diseases, there is ample opportunity to develop therapies using this new knowledge about cAMP, PKA, and anxiety disorders.
authors.affiliation: Section on Endocrinology and Genetics, Program in Developmental Endocrinology and Genetics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., USA.
authors.forename: Margaret F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Keil
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Briassoulis
authors.forename: Constantine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Stratakis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000201:enzymology*; D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases