Nanomedicine. 2025 Sep 18:102857. doi: 10.1016/j.nano.2025.102857. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Depression is a severe psychiatric syndrome, characterized by its high prevalence and substantial socioeconomic impact. 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) has been correlated with both the pathogenesis and treatment of major depression. There is a lack of sensitive methods for detecting 5-HT levels in the brain to characterize depression onset and severity. Tetrahedral DNA nanostructures (TDNs) show promises as 5-HT sensors due to their ability to confer diverse target specificity and permeate the blood-brain barrier. In this study, we constructed a nanoscale complex, 5-HT-TDNs, by combining TDNs with a specific 5-HT aptamer and 6-Carboxyfluorescein. The 5-HT-TDNs targeted decreased 5-HT in the brains of mice subjected to chronic restraint stress-induced depression. Following fluoxetine administration to these mice, we observed a significant increase of 5-HT in brain tissue using 5-HT-TDNs. This work illustrates the potential for sensitively and stably indicating neurotransmitters such as 5-HT in individuals with depression.
PMID:40975367 | DOI:10.1016/j.nano.2025.102857
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