Kinase-mediated signaling cascades in mood disorders and antidepressant treatment

Abstract

Kinase-mediated signaling cascades regulate a number of different molecular mechanisms involved in cellular homeostasis, and are viewed as one of the most common intracellular processes that are robustly dysregulated in the pathophysiology of mood disorders such as depression. Newly emerged, rapid acting antidepressants are able to achieve therapeutic improvement, possibly in part, through stimulating activity of kinase-dependent signaling pathways. Thus, advancements in our understanding of how kinases may contribute to development and treatment of depression seem crucial. However, current investigations are limited to a single or small number of kinases and are unable to detect novel kinases. Here, we review fast developing kinome profiling approaches that allow identification of multiple kinases and kinase network connections simultaneously, analyze technical limitation and challenges, and discuss their future applications to mood disorders and antidepressant treatment.

Keywords:

• Fast-acting antidepressant
• major depressive disorders
• protein kinase
• kinase inhibitor
• kinome profiling

Acknowledgments

This review is written in honor of Dr. Barry Ganetzky’s scientific career, his contributions to the community of Drosophila genetics, and his dedication to his students and trainees. LY wishes to express the most sincere gratitude to Dr. Ganetzky for his support, encouragement, and sense of humor that goes well beyond her graduate studies.

We thank Dr. Graves for valuable comments on the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.