Is There a Common Molecular Link that Drives the Stress Risk for Disease?

Almost everybody has to deal with stress sometimes. But what is stress? It is a reaction of the body to a challenging situation which elicits a stress response in the body. Stress is also a risk factor for disease and this is an area that MATHIAS V. SCHMIDT and his research team focus on. The most prominent stress-related disorders are psychiatric disorders and metabolic disorders. Specifically, as Schmidt explains in this video, they ask: Is there a common molecular link that may drive the stress risk for disease? A potential molecular link they found is FKBP51. To test this hypothesis they used FKBP51 knockout animals, their cells and also a pharmacological tool, a FKBP51-specific antagonist. The experiments confirmed that FKBP51 indeed links stress response with an increased risk for metabolic disorders. Their findings can thus be used to develop a drug that can then be tested on humans.