Question

How can one set up an experiment to investigate inducement of a target gene as a treatment in depression?

Answer 1

One can develop a mouse model of depression where one set of depressed mouse lacks induction of the particular target gene in question (may be as a result of a faulty promoter or the gene being knocked out in the mice) and another set of depressed mouse in which this gene is functional and can be induced to express by some sort of treatment. Measure the progress of depression treatment in these two sets against a set of control normal mice ( non depressed mice with functional target gene that can be induced).If the induction of this gene reduces depression in the second set compared to the first set ( both normalized to the control set) then one can conclude that the induction of target gene is the reason for reduced depression.