@article{ref1,
title="Effects of RhoA on depression-like behavior in prenatally stressed offspring rats",
journal="Behavioural brain research",
year="2022",
author="Zhou, Jiahao and Chen, Jinfeng and Ma, Yao and Li, Hui and Li, Ge and Wang, Zhifei and Ma, Hengyu and Ren, Yating and Dong, Yankai and Feng, Caixia and Yao, Dan and Zhu, Zhongliang",
volume="432",
number="",
pages="113973-113973",
abstract="Depression is a common mental disease that can lead to suicide when severe. Exposure to prenatal stress (PS) can lead to depression-like behavior in offspring, but the mechanism is unclear. RhoA (Ras homology family member A) plays an important role in stress-induced changes in synaptic plasticity, participating in the development of depression by activating the downstream effector ROCK (Rho-associated protein kinase). This study explored the influence in the expression of RhoA and downstream molecules ROCK1/2 in prenatally stressed rats, and the effect of RhoA inhibitor simvastatin on depression-like behavior induced by PS. Depression-like behavior in offspring was detected by sucrose preference test, forced swimming test, and open-field test. The mRNA and protein expression of RhoA and ROCK1/2 in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex of offspring rats were detected by qRT-PCR and western blotting, respectively. Our results showed that PS causes depression-like behavior in offspring rats, associated with elevated expression of RhoA, ROCK1/2 in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. After administration of simvastatin to PS rats, the expression of RhoA and ROCK2 was significantly reduced, alleviating depression-like behavior. Our study demonstrated that RhoA participates in the depression-like behavior in prenatally stressed offspring rats, which may be a potential target for antidepressant therapy.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0166-4328",
doi="10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113973",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2022.113973"
}