Proliferative Effects of the Psychedelic N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in Human Neural Stem Cells.
José Alexandre Salerno, Elizabeth R Dominguez, Karina Karmirian, Breno A B M S Arrais, Juliano Alves, Giovanna Erjautz, Kennedy Kroening, Leticia R Q Souza, Isis Ornelas, Stevens Rehen
ACS chemical neuroscience July 9, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.6c00209 via PubMed
Summary
Brief exposure to N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) significantly increases the proliferation of human neural stem cells (NSCs) in a concentration-dependent manner, with a half-maximal effect at 59.7 nM. DMT treatment also alters gene expression, decreasing neurotrophin-3 and increasing nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). After DMT washout, NSCs formed larger neurospheres, showing similar progenitor and early neuronal markers to controls by day 10.
Study at a glance
| Population | human iPSC-derived neural stem cells |
|---|---|
| Key finding | 24 hours of DMT treatment increased the proliferation of human neural stem cells and altered gene expression related to neurotrophic factors. |
Abstract
The serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) produces rapid antidepressant effects in preclinical and early clinical studies. Therapeutic benefits have been linked to sustained neural plasticity, including adult neurogenesis in rodents. Whether brief DMT exposure engages proliferative responses in human neural stem cells (NSCs) remains unresolved. Using human iPSC-derived NSCs, we found that 24 h DMT treatment increased proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner (half-maximal effect at 59.7 nM) and upregulated G1 cell-cycle regulators. DMT also shifted trophic gene expression, decreasing neurotrophin-3 while increasing nerve growth factor and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) transcripts and intracellular BDNF protein. After washout, DMT-primed NSCs formed larger neurospheres, with progenitor and early neuronal marker composition matching controls by day 10. These findings demonstrate that brief DMT exposure is sufficient to engage proliferative and neurotrophin-associated responses in human NSCs at concentrations consistent with those reported for DMT-induced plasticity across other systems.