Tetraspan protein CD151: A common target of mood stabilizing drugs?

The latency in onset of antimanic and mood stabilizing effects of lithium s uggest that long-term neuronal adaptations mediated by changes in gene expr ession may be important to the therapeutic action of lithium treatment. Usi ng differential display-polymerase chain reaction, several novel, hitherto unexpected lithium-regulated genes have been isolated, all of which would n ot have been predicted with the candidate gene approach. During the process of characterizing one of these novel genes, we have identified a cDNA clon e, a homolog of human/mouse transmembrane-4-superfamily (also known as tetr aspan) protein, CD151, the expression of which was significantly decreased in rat frontal cortex following chronic (five weeks) lithium treatment. The reduction of CD151 mRNA levels was also observed following chronic adminis tration of carbamazepine and valproate. Conversely, the expression of CD151 was not altered by short-term (one week) lithium treatment and by chronic administration of the tricyclic antidepressant, imipramine, or the typical antipsychotic, haloperidol,further demonstrating time dependence and pharma cological specificity of this effect. Our studies, thus, indicate that CD15 1 may represent a therapeutically relevant target common to lithium and the anticonvulsant mood stabilizing drugs, carbamazepine and valproate. (C) 20 01 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Published by Elsevier Scien ce Inc.