Monoamine Transporter Studies

Principal Investigator - Marc Caron, Ph.D.
Duke Department of Cell Biology
Co-Principal Investigator - William Wetsel, Ph.D.

Dr Caron’s laboratory has been at the forefront in developing knockout mice of relevance to psychiatric disorders. Lines of mice of particular interest are the norepinephrine transporter knockout and the VMAT 2 knockout mice. Initial characterization of the phenotypes of these knockouts have already revealed their usefulness as animal models potential to elicit the importance of norepinephrine and serotonin to depression. Project 2 will also evaluate cell pathology in these animals in the prefrontal cortex with the assumption that similar changes will be seen in the VMAT 2 knockout mice as seen in depressed humans.

The study of depression has not been a major focus of Caron’s laboratory previously. His involvement with the previous center has been critical to the development of these animal models and has been a major influence in the development of this model. These models are extremely innovative and likely to greatly influence our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying depression. The prefrontal pathology will be assessed by project 2.

Revised: March 17, 2008

DISCLAIMER
You have entered a web site that describes an NIMH-funded collaborative study on the neurobiological mechanism of depression. If you are seeking immediate help for treatment of depression, we recommend that you contact your clinician or your nearest emergency room. This web site is not set up to provide help or advice to individuals about their depression, nor to family members or friends of individuals with depression. This web site is created for the purposes of providing background information about the study and having researchers provide input to the design. If you are interested in getting general information about depression, you can visit the following web site: www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depressionmenu.cfm