Depression genetics

The neuropeptide Y (NPY) belongs to a family of peptides that includes peptide YY and pancreatic polypeptide, and it is associated with several diseases such as asthma, immune system disorders, inflammatory diseases, anxiety, depression and diabetes mellitus. NPY is found in the central and peripheral nervous system, and its biological functions are mediated by interactions with five receptor sub-types, i.e. Yl, Y2, Y4, Y5 and Y6. Several studies indicate that the feeding behavior is influenced by interactions between NPY and Yl and Y5. Deswal and Roy used Cerius descriptors and genetic function approximation QSAR to investigate the structural determinants for the inhibition potency of 24 compounds with the general structure 4 for the NPY Y5 receptor [31]. The best QSAR (H = 0.720,... 

Depression can occur despite the absence of major life stressors, and conversely, major life stressors do not invariably cause depression. Nevertheless, there is an undeniable association between life stressors and depression, and there appears to be a significant interaction between life stressors and genetic liability in causing depression.6 Although acute stressors may precipitate depression, chronic stressors have a longer risk period, cause longer episodes, and are more likely to lead to relapse and recurrence.6... 

These data show that for three psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and unipolar depression) the genetic contribution is over 50% but for reactive depression (in response to a traumatic life event ) and tuberculosis, an infectious disease caused by a species of Mycobacterium, environmental factors account for over 90% of the variance. 

Research underway by our group and others on the clinical pharmacogenomics of depression is focused on identifying genetic markers as positive and negative predictors of treatment response. It is necessary that rigorous clinical studies be performed in order to examine closely the relation between genotype and the phe-... 

Mating animals that display a required trait and selecting offspring that also display the trait reveals genetic differences in behavioral responses such as cognition. Rats have been selectively bred for high or low emotionality on the basis of defecation rates and these two strains have been found to differ in their sensitivity to the stimulant/depressant effects of nicotine [49]. 

We still need much better medicines to cure cancer, heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer s disease. We need better drugs to deal with obesity, diabetes, arthritis, and schizophrenia. The treatments of diabetes, arthritis, and mental defects such as schizophrenia or manic depression are not yet cures, just ways to keep the symptoms under control. Cures are needed. Insights from genetics may help guide us toward elegant and rational cures, but we will also make use of screens to identify natural products and libraries of randomly generated synthetic compounds (combinatorial chemistry). A semi-empirical approach may be the best hope over the next two decades to yield drugs to alleviate these diseases. 

With the suggestion that the last common genetic ancestor is a hyperthermophile, the role of temperature on the origins of life is important. The lower temperature limit in water is limited by the phase transition from liquid to ice. This is a problem because the density of ice is lower than that of water and the increase in volume on freezing will cause the cell structure to become disrupted in the same way that pipes burst in the winter. The lower limit for bacterial growth reported so far is -20°C, which is the temperature at which intracellular ice is formed. Adaptation to the cold requires a considerable salt content to depress the melting point of water the Don Juan Pond in Antarctica, which has a saturated CaCE solution, preserves the liquid phase at temperatures as low as —53°C. 

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