Ciraci Viviana, Santoni Letizia, Tongiorgi Enrico
Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgieri, 5 (Q Building), 34127, Trieste, Italy.
Mol Neurobiol. 2025 May;62(5):5452-5465. doi: 10.1007/s12035-024-04619-1. Epub 2024 Nov 18.
Antidepressants are known for their neurotrophic effects, particularly through the regulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. Mirtazapine, a tetracyclic noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant (NaSSA) has been observed to upregulate BDNF, though its underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we used the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line to investigate whether mirtazapine could enhance BDNF translation by modulating serotonin and/or norepinephrine and their receptors. A 1-h stimulation with 1 or 10 µM mirtazapine led to downregulation of serotonergic receptors 5HT1A, while increasing ADRA2A and ADRB2 receptors. Mirtazapine at 10 µM upregulated endogenous BDNF after 3h, but not 1h stimulation. To investigate the translation of major BDNF transcripts, we used chimeric BDNF-luciferase constructs with the untranslated 5'UTR exons I, IIc, IV, or VI, and the long version of the 3'UTR. Luciferase assays and Western blotting revealed that mirtazapine selectively enhanced exon-IIc-BDNF-long3'UTR-Luciferase translation. This increase was associated with norepinephrine release and was inhibited by blocking ADRA2A or ADRB2 adrenoceptors for the exon-IIc-BDNF-long3'UTR-Luciferase, and ADR2B for endogenous BDNF. These findings provide a new perspective on the critical role of the noradrenergic system in mediating mirtazapine's effects on BDNF translation. We propose a novel mechanism of action in which mirtazapine promotes norepinephrine release and noradrenergic responses by upregulating ADRA2A and ADRB2 while downregulating serotonergic receptors.
抗抑郁药以其神经营养作用而闻名,特别是通过调节脑源性神经营养因子(BDNF)的表达。米氮平是一种四环类去甲肾上腺素能和特异性5-羟色胺能抗抑郁药(NaSSA),已观察到它能上调BDNF,但其潜在机制仍不清楚。在本研究中,我们使用人神经母细胞瘤SH-SY5Y细胞系来研究米氮平是否能通过调节5-羟色胺和/或去甲肾上腺素及其受体来增强BDNF的翻译。用1或10 μM米氮平刺激1小时导致5-羟色胺能受体5HT1A下调,同时增加ADRA2A和ADRB2受体。10 μM米氮平在刺激3小时后上调内源性BDNF,但刺激1小时后未上调。为了研究主要BDNF转录本的翻译,我们使用了带有未翻译的5'UTR外显子I、IIc、IV或VI以及3'UTR长版本的嵌合BDNF-荧光素酶构建体。荧光素酶测定和蛋白质印迹显示,米氮平选择性增强外显子-IIc-BDNF-long3'UTR-荧光素酶的翻译。这种增加与去甲肾上腺素释放有关,并通过阻断外显子-IIc-BDNF-long3'UTR-荧光素酶的ADRA2A或ADRB2肾上腺素能受体以及内源性BDNF的ADR2B受体而受到抑制。这些发现为去甲肾上腺素能系统在介导米氮平对BDNF翻译的作用中的关键作用提供了新的视角。我们提出了一种新的作用机制,即米氮平通过上调ADRA2A和ADRB2同时下调5-羟色胺能受体来促进去甲肾上腺素释放和去甲肾上腺素能反应。