In Vitro: Elk-1 phosphorylation on Ser383/389 has a dual function and triggers both Elk-1 nuclear translocation and SRE-dependent gene expression.TAT-DEF-Elk-1 (5-10 μM; 1 hour) specifically inhibits glutamate-induced elk-1 activation and does not interfer with ERK, MSK-1, or CREB phosphorylation.TAT-DEF-Elk-1 (5 μM; 2 hour) treatment shows a significant inhibition of c-Fos, Zif268 and JunB, but has no effects on c-Jun expression.
In Vivo: TAT-DEF-Elk-1 (intraperitoneal injection; 1mg/kg; daily; 14 days) reflects antidepressant efficacy in mice, it decreases immobility similar to the reference antidepressants fluoxetine and desipramine (DMI).