Abstract

Chronic antidepressant treatment has been shown to increase adenylyl cyclase activity, in part, due to translocation of Gα_s from lipid rafts to a nonraft fraction of the plasma membrane where they engage in a more facile stimulation of adenylyl cyclase. This effect holds for multiple classes of antidepressants, and for serotonin uptake inhibitors, it occurs in the absence of the serotonin transporter. In the present study, we examined the change in the amount of Gα_s in lipid raft and whole cell lysate after exposing C6 cells to escitalopram. The results showed that chronic (but not acute) escitalopram decreased the content of Gα_s in lipid rafts, whereas there was no change in overall Gα_s content. These effects were drug dose- and exposure time-dependent. Although R-citalopram has been reported to antagonize some effects of escitalopram, this compound was without effect on Gα_s localization in lipid rafts, and R-citalopram did not inhibit these actions of escitalopram. Escitalopram treatment increased cAMP accumulation, and this seemed due to increased coupling between Gα_s and adenylyl cyclase. Thus, escitalopram is potent, rapid and efficacious in translocating Gα_s from lipid rafts, and this effect seems to occur independently of 5-hydroxytryptamine transporters. Our results suggest that, although antidepressants display distinct affinities for well identified targets (e.g., monoamine transporters), several presynaptic and postsynaptic molecules are probably modified during chronic antidepressant treatment, and these additional targets may be required for clinical efficacy of these drugs.