DUSP6 and depressive disorder: DUSP6 expression was shown to be downregulated in female but not male patients with depression, and in an animal study knockdown of DUSP6 was shown to increase stress susceptibility by enhancing the excitability of a population of glutamatergic pyramidal neurons in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex via the activation of ERK signaling (Labonté et al., 2017).