Project Summary

Elisabeth B. Binder, M.D., Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of Emory University, will use her grant to find candidate genes that increase the risk an individual with early-life stress will have for heightened hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis stress reactivity and for major depression later in life. Early-life stress has been shown to increase stress sensitivity, which is accompanied by enduring abnormalities in HPA-axis reactivity and the development of major depression. The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is central in the regulation of the stress response and the HPA-axis. Its function is tightly controlled by a number of chaperone molecules, which will be the focus of this proposal. To identify which GR chaperone molecules are important in early-life stress and depression, Dr. Binder will investigate their mRNA expression pattern in peripheral blood cells of healthy controls and of patients with major depression with or without early-life stress. She will also relate chaperone expression profiles to GR function. Results should help identify novel candidate genes that may be important in increasing susceptibility to depression by early-life stress.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Unipolar

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