Summary of A Game-Changing Discovery in Depression and Anxiety Treatment:
Scientists at the Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology have discovered that glycine, a common amino acid, can send a “slow-down” signal to the brain, potentially contributing to major depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders. The discovery could help develop new, faster-acting medications for such conditions. The research focused on a receptor called GPR158, which, when bound to glycine, inhibits rather than activates cell activity. This receptor has been renamed mGlyR (metabotropic glycine receptor) and is being pursued as a drug target by startup company Blueshield Therapeutics. Further research is needed to understand the balance of my receptors and their effect on brain cell activity.
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Amino Acid Glycine Linked to Depression and Anxiety
Scientists at the Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology have made a groundbreaking discovery about the amino acid glycine, revealing that it can deliver a “slow-down” signal to the brain, potentially contributing to major depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders. The team’s research, published in Science, could result in faster-acting medications for such conditions.
The research focused on a receptor called GPR158, which inhibits rather than activates cell activity when bound to glycine. This receptor has now been renamed mGlyR and is being pursued as a drug target by Blueshield Therapeutics, a startup company.
New Medications for Hard-to-Treat Mood Disorders on the Horizon
Scientists have discovered that current medications for people with depression take weeks before they have a significant effect, and even then, they are often not entirely effective. As such, new and better treatments are urgently needed. The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute’s discovery improves understanding of the biological causes of major depression. It could accelerate efforts to develop new, faster-acting medications for hard-to-treat mood disorders.
Depression’s Economic Burden
Major depression is one of the most urgent health needs globally, and its numbers have surged in recent years, particularly among young adults. Depression has not only resulted in rising disability and suicide numbers but also increased medical expenses, with a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study estimating its annual economic burden in the US to be $326 billion in 2021.
How the Glycine/MGlyR Connection was Found
The key to the scientists’ discovery lay in asking a basic question: how do sensors on brain cells receive and transmit signals into the cells? Once the team had identified a binding partner for the proteins they were interested in, they went on to identify the GPR158 receptor. They discovered that it was involved in stress-induced depression. Finally, in 2021, the researchers solved the structure of GPR158 and found that glycine was the amino acid behind the signal.
GPR158 Receptor No Longer an Orphan Receptor
GPR158 was previously considered an orphan receptor because scientists had been unable to identify its signaler. They have now renamed it mGlyR after discovering that it serves as a metabotropic glycine receptor.
More Research Needed to Understand Brain Cell Activity
While glycine is sold as a nutritional supplement that supposedly improves mood, research is needed to determine how the body maintains the right balance of my receptors and how they affect brain cell activity. He and his team will remain hard at work, “We are in desperate need of new depression treatments; if we can target this with something specific, it makes sense that it could help. We are working on it now,” said the neuroscientist Kirill Martemyanov, Ph.D., and corresponding author of the study.
The National Institute of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health and General Medical Sciences supported the team’s research.
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