Programa de Pós-Graduação em Bioquímica – Graduate Program in Biochemistry

A study published by researchers at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in the international journal Molecular Psychiatry, by the Nature group, may help to understand the neurobiology of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders.

The work “The ERK phosphorylation levels in the amygdala predict anxiety symptoms in humans and MEK/ERK inhibition dissociates innate and learned defensive behaviors in rats” by Dr. Cristiane Ribeiro de Carvalho from PPG Neurosciences is part of a project coordinated by Prof. Dr. Roger Walz (PPG Neurosciences and Medical Sciences) and had the collaboration of PPGBQA graduate Mark W. Lopes, professors Alexandra Latini and Rodrigo Bainy Leal, as well as collaborators from PPG Neurosciences, Pharmacology, Medical Sciences at UFSC and international collaborators.

The work demonstrated that the phosphorylation status of ERK1,2 proteins in the amygdala is able to predict anxiety in humans and rats. Furthermore, ERK1,2 in the basolateral portion of the amygdala was required for the expression of learned but not innate defensive behavior in rats. The findings may help to understand the neurobiology of highly prevalent psychiatric disorders such as anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.

To read the full article, access:C. R. de Carvalho et al., 2021.
More details can be found in the article published by Agecom/UFSC.