Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Biofunctional Evaluation, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, 1-25-4 Daigaku-nishi, Gifu, 501-1196, Japan.
Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2019 Aug;39(6):721-727. doi: 10.1007/s10571-019-00681-9. Epub 2019 Apr 29.
Mental disorders, such as major depressive disorder and schizophrenia, are complex multigenetic conditions, but focused studies of single genes might reveal genes involved in the pathogenesis of mental disorders, including major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. Several candidate genes have been identified using transgenic mice. VGF nerve growth factor inducible (VGF) is a neuropeptide expression of which is induced by nerve growth factor (NGF). VGF is robustly and exclusively synthesized in neuronal and neuroendocrine cells. In central nervous system (CNS), VGF is extensively expressed especially in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and hypothalamus. VGF has many roles in the CNS, such as promotion of synaptic plasticity, neurogenesis, and neurite outgrowth. In clinical studies, altered expression and genetic mutations of VGF have been reported in patients with major depressive disorder and schizophrenia. On this basis, studies using transgenic mice to overexpress or knockout VGF have been performed to investigate the roles of upregulation or downregulation of VGF. In this review, we will discuss studies of the roles of VGF using transgenic mice and its relevance to pathologies in major depressive disorder and schizophrenia.
精神障碍，如重性抑郁障碍和精神分裂症，是复杂的多基因疾病，但对单个基因的集中研究可能会揭示参与精神障碍发病机制的基因，包括重性抑郁障碍和精神分裂症。已经使用转基因小鼠鉴定了一些候选基因。VGF 神经生长因子诱导物（VGF）是一种神经肽，其表达受神经生长因子（NGF）诱导。VGF 在神经元和神经内分泌细胞中被强烈且特异地合成。在中枢神经系统（CNS）中，VGF 广泛表达，特别是在大脑皮层、海马体和下丘脑。VGF 在中枢神经系统中具有多种作用，例如促进突触可塑性、神经发生和神经突生长。在临床研究中，已经报道了重性抑郁障碍和精神分裂症患者中 VGF 的表达改变和基因突变。在此基础上，已经使用转基因小鼠进行了过表达或敲除 VGF 的研究，以研究 VGF 的上调或下调的作用。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论使用转基因小鼠研究 VGF 的作用及其与重性抑郁障碍和精神分裂症病理的相关性。
