The proposed research in this application will significantly broaden our understanding of the molecular basis for how stress leads to anxiety and depression. The outlined experiments will provide a detailed analysis of the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of 5-HT2AR signalling by CRFR1 and how the activated receptors can change the biology of the brain in anxiety and depression. This will significantly advance our understanding of molecular mechanisms that link the stress response to anxiety behaviours and will also allow the development of peptide inhibitors that can be used to block biochemical changes in neurons that allow stress to impact depression. Ultimately, the long term goal of my experimentation is the design of better pharmacological treatments of stress-related anxiety and depression.
