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New publication about the identification of novel targets for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorders

03 Feb 2022

Kinase inhibitors are among the most common druggable targets in the pharma industry

Post-traumatic stress (PTSD) is a relatively recently recognized psychiatric condition afflicting thousands of people worldwide due to war conflicts, natural disasters and crime. Current treatments are of limited efficacy and novel therapies are urgently needed.

The research group led by the Scientific Director of Achucarro, and leader of the laboratory of Neurobiology of Insulin Peptides, Prof. Ignacio Torres Alemán has developed an animal model of PTSD by modulating orexin neurons of the lateral hypothalamus, a brain area suspected to be involved in this condition, using various genetic manipulations. This development helped identifying a specific molecule involved in development of PTSD, the kinase AMPK, a multitasking enzyme which until now was most prominently associated to metabolic pathways. By pharmacologically and chemo-genetically inhibiting AMPK activity this research group successfully ameliorated major PTSD symptoms including aberrant fear memories and anhedonia. This result will support the further exploration of the modulation of the AMPK pathway as a new treatment for PTSD.

“Insulin-like growth factor I mitigates post-traumatic stress by inhibiting AMP-kinase in orexin neurons”
Fernández de Sevilla, M.E., Pignatelli, J., Zegarra-Valdivia, J.A. et al. Molecular Psychiatry (2022)