[Anti-apoptotic protein enhances resilience to psychoemotional effects of stress].

Stress predisposes to depression by enhancing apoptosis and reducing neurogenesis in the brain. There are significant individual differences in resilience to the effects of stress on mood. These differences, at least in part, may be related to the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL in the brain. Increased expression of this protein in the hippocampus may be an important factor of resilience to stress-induced depression. Expression of the Bcl-xL in the brainstem acquires the ability to respond to stress induction during the course of treatment with prozac concomitantly with the emergence of the therapeutic effect of this antidepressant on behavior. Processes linking stress and behavior in which the protein Bcl-xL is involved, are considered in this review.