PE 22-28 TREK-1 peptide for depression, anyone following the preclinical stuff

Posted by student748 in Research & News - 1 points, 0 comments.

Just came across the PE 22-28 profile on here (/peptides/pe-22-28) and spent a bit of time going down the rabbit hole. It is a spadin-derived peptide that blocks the TREK-1 potassium channel and apparently shows fast antidepressant effects in animal models, faster than SSRIs. Also promotes neurogenesis and synaptogenesis which is the bit that caught my eye.

For what it is worth i think the mechanism is genuinely interesting. TREK-1 blockade enhancing serotonergic signalling is a different angle than just dumping more serotonin at the synapse. Reminds me of how ketamine's antidepressant effect turned out to be more about downstream plasticity than the NMDA hit itself. But it is all preclinical and the human safety is completely unknown, so anyone already messing with this is braver than me.

The thing i keep wondering about is whether the neurogenesis angle has any crossover with stroke recovery research. The profile mentions that and i reckon that is where the real clinical value might end up being, not just mood stuff.

Has anyone seen any newer animal data or heard whispers about human trials starting? Keen to know if this is actually going anywhere or if it is just another preclinical compound that sounds sweet as in mice and disappears.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.