Summary.
Mice deficient in the serotonin transporter (5HTT) display highly elevated extracellular 5HT levels. 5HT exerts ist effects via at least fourteen different cloned 5HT receptors located pre- and postsynaptically. In contrast to the other 5HT receptors, the 5HT3 receptor is a ionotropic receptor with ligand-gated cation channel function. Since G-protein-coupled 5HT receptors show extensive adaptive changes in 5HTT-deficient mice, we investigated whether 5HT3 receptors are also altered in these mice. Using quantitative autoradiography, we found that 5HT3 receptors are upregulated in frontal cortex (+46%), parietal cortex (+42%), and in stratum oriens of the CA3 region of the hippocampus (+18%) of 5HTT knockout mice. Changes in 5HT3 receptor mRNA expression, as determined by quantitative in situ hybridisation, were less pronounced. The adaptive changes of 5HT3 receptor expression constitute a part of the complex regulatory pattern of 5HT receptors in 5HTT knockout mice.
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Mössner, R., Schmitt, A., Hennig, T. et al. Quantitation of 5HT3 receptors in forebrain of serotonin transporter deficient mice. J Neural Transm 111, 27–35 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-003-0074-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-003-0074-y