Monoamine insufficiency is suggested to be associated with depressive features such as sadness, anhedonia, insomnia, and cognitive dysfunction, but the mechanisms that cause it are unclear. We found that the acute-phase protein lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) inhibits monoamine biosynthesis by acting as an endogenous inhibitor of dopamine-β-hydroxylase (DBH) and aromatic-L-amino-acid-decarboxylase (DDC). LBP expression was increased in individuals with depression and by diverse stress challenges in mice. LBP antibodies and LBP knockdown inhibited monoamine insufficiency and depression-like features in mice, which worsened with LBP overexpression or administration. Monoamine insufficiency and depression-like symptoms were not induced by stressful stimuli in LBP-deficient mice, further highlighting a role for LBP in stress-induced depression, and a peptide we designed that blocks LBP-DBH and LBP-DDC interactions showed anti-depression effects in mice. This study reveals an important role for LBP in regulating monoamine biosynthesis and suggests that targeting LBP may have potential as a treatment for some individuals with depression.
Congratulations to Professor Ren Lai and co-authors from Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences for their outstanding work published in Immunity (IF=43.47)!
InvivoChem is proud to provide Professor Lai’s team with our high-quality product 5-HTP (Cat #: V1985; CAS #: 56-69-9, precursor in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitters serotonin (5-HT)) for this research.
References: Immunity. 2023 Mar 14;56(3):620-634.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.02.002.
