The ATP Level in the mPFC Mediates the Antidepressant Effect of Calorie Restriction

 Qian Wang1 • Ying Kong1 • Song Lin1 • Ding-Yu Wu1 • Jian Hu1 • Lang Huang1 • Wen-Si Zang1 • Xiao-Wen Li1 • Jian-Ming Yang1 • Tian-Ming Gao1

1 State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brian Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Psychiatric Disorders, Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
 
Abstract
Food deprivation can rescue obesity and overweight-induced mood disorders, and promote mood performance in normal subjects. Animal studies and clinical research have revealed the antidepressant-like effect of calorie restriction, but little is known about the mechanism of calorie restriction-induced mood modification. Previous studies have found that astrocytes modulate depressive-like behaviors. Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor type 2 (IP3R2) is the predominant isoform in mediating astrocyte Ca2? signals and its genetic knockout mice are widely used to study astrocyte function in vivo. In this study, we showed that deletion of IP3R2 blocked the antidepressantlike effect induced by calorie restriction. In vivo microdialysis experiments demonstrated that calorie restriction induced an increase in ATP level in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in naı¨ve mice but this effect disappeared in IP3R2-knockout mice, suggesting a role of astrocytic ATP in the calorie restriction-induced antidepressant effect. Further experiments showed that systemic administration and local infusion of ATP into the mPFC induced an antidepressant effect, whereas decreasing ATP by Apyrase in the mPFC blocked calorie restriction-induced antidepressant regulation. Together, these findings support a role for astrocytic ATP in the antidepressant–like effect caused by calorie restriction.
 
Keywords
Calorie restriction; Astrocyte; IP3R2; ATP;Depression