PTSD Regulation in Female Brain; Research Revealed

There is a protein that governs everything from humans to plants to single-cell creatures. This protein performs general cell housekeeping, controlling them through routine daily tasks. Researchers at Virginia Tech discovered that one specific type of this ubiquitous protein has a different purpose in female brains—it helps regulate memory events that produce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“The protein is primarily thought of as a protein that marks other proteins to be destroyed,” said Tim Jarome, an associate professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Animal Sciences. “For it to be doing this function in the context of PTSD in females is very surprising.”

Because of its widespread prevalence, this protein, ubiquitin, even has its name derived from the word ubiquitous. The researchers were able to modify a variant of this protein called K-63, which was selective in creating fear memories in the female brain.

“Oftentimes, molecules are found in the brain that are involved in forming these fear-based memories in both sexes, and this is the first time that we found one that’s selectively involved in one sex,” Jarome said. “In particular, this was found in the sex that seems to be more likely to have PTSD. It’s rare to find these mechanisms that are specific to one sex in terms of regulating the underlying factors that cause PTSD.”

The breakthrough could pave the way for better therapeutic treatments. The experiment was led by Kayla Farrell, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Animal Sciences.

The findings were recently published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

PTSD is a complex illness with numerous therapeutic options, including pharmaceutical methods. Pharmacological treatments could be employed if a specific molecule is targeted.

“Right now, treatment options are not very effective and the success rate isn’t very good,” Jarome said. “PTSD is not created equal among patients, and we know females are more likely to have it. The therapeutic approaches that we take to treat it might have to differ between males and females. This may be a mechanism in which we could specifically target treatment in females as a way to treat PTSD.”

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