Reporting That Antidepressant Induces Autophagy

 

-Article Published in Scientific Reports

 

 

Yonsei Biotechnology Professor Ho Jeong Kwon and his research team have discovered that the antidepressant drug indatraline induces autophagy, an important cellular catabolic process in which cellular components are degraded and recycled as nutrients and energy sources. Autophagy has been implicated in numerous human diseases; however, the team’s research suggests that autophagy inducers have the potential to become therapeutic drugs for atherosclerosis, or the accumulation of plaque in arteries.

 

Professor Kwon’s research team collaborated on the study with teams led by Professor Jun O. Liu of Johns Hopkins University and Professor Sang Won Kang of Ewha Womans University. Their article, “Antidepressant indatraline induces autophagy and inhibits restenosis via suppression of mTOR/S6 kinase signaling pathway,” was published October 3 in Scientific Reports, a sister journal of Nature.