Proteomic analysis of rat hippocampus and frontal cortex after chronic treatment with fluoxetine or putative novel antidepressants: CRF1 and NK1 receptor antagonists

Chronic administration of antidepressants is required for their efficacy, suggesting the involvement of long-term modifications. As the impact of antidepressant treatment on the brain molecular machinery is not completely understood, we performed a proteomic analysis of rat hippocampus and frontal cortex after chronic treatment with fluoxetine, with an NK1 receptor antagonist, GR205171, and a CRF receptor 1 antagonist, DMP696. After 2D electrophoresis, protein expression levels were compared with both univariate and multivariate statistical analyses and identified by mass spectrometry. All treatments modified levels of actin isoforms, whereas both fluoxetine and GR205171 reduced synapsin II. Fluoxetine treatment increased ERK2 and NP25 and decreased vacuolar ATP synthase. After GR205171 treatment, protein disulphide isomerase A was reduced; dynamin 1 and aldose reductase increased. DMP696 modulated DRP2, pyruvate kinase, LDH and ATP synthase. Although each compound induced a specific pattern of protein modulation, data suggest that antidepressants share the ability of modulating neural plasticity.