How to Test Antidepressant Activity in a Mouse Head Twitch Test

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Two new drugs have anti-depressant properties, but without any associated hallucinogenic effects. They were 40-fold more potent at inducing an antidepressant like response in the mice. The effects lasted up to, I think, 21 days, which is a lot of time for a mouse. It remains to be seen, of course, whether these effects will translate into humans.

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00:46 A virtual chemical library uncovers potential antidepressants

Certain psychedelic drugs are of interest to researchers due to their promising antidepressant effects. To help speed up the discovery of molecules with useful properties, researchers have built a virtual library of 75 million compounds related to these drugs. This approach yielded two molecules that showed antidepressant properties in mice, but without the hallucinogenic activity of psychedelic drugs.

Research article: Kaplan et al.

Research Briefing: Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with antidepressant activity

08:25 Research Highlights

Research suggests that ancient artificial island settlements were hubs of activity for society’s elite, and astronomers spot possibly the most luminous star ever observed.

Research Highlight: Ancient DNA suggests that artificial islands were party spots for the elite

Research Highlight: Scientists face down ‘Godzilla’, the most luminous star known

10:42 Nobel News

Flora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s Nobel Prizes.

Nature News: Geneticist who unmasked lives of ancient humans wins medicine Nobel

Nature News: ‘Spooky’ quantum-entanglement experiments win physics Nobel

Nature News: Chemists who invented revolutionary 'click' reactions win Nobel

Enter Nature’s ‘Scientist at Work’ photo competition, full details here

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