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Characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans G protein-coupled serotonin receptors

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Invertebrate Neuroscience

Abstract

Serotonin (5-HT) regulates a wide range of behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans, including egg laying, male mating, locomotion and pharyngeal pumping. So far, four serotonin receptors have been described in the nematode C. elegans, three of which are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), (SER-1, SER-4 and SER-7), and one is an ion channel (MOD-1). By searching the C. elegans genome for additional 5-HT GPCR genes, we identified five further genes which encode putative 5-HT receptors, based on sequence similarities to 5-HT receptors from other species. Using loss-of-function mutants and RNAi, we performed a systematic study of the role of the eight GPCR genes in serotonin-modulated behaviors of C. elegans (F59C12.2, Y22D7AR.13, K02F2.6, C09B7.1, M03F4.3, F16D3.7, T02E9.3, C24A8.1). We also examined their expression patterns. Finally, we tested whether the most likely candidate receptors were able to modulate adenylate cyclase activity in transfected cells in a 5-HT-dependent manner. This paper is the first comprehensive study of G protein-coupled serotonin receptors of C. elegans. It provides a direct comparison of the expression patterns and functional roles for 5-HT receptors in C. elegans.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Theresa Stiernagle and the Caenorhabditis Genetic Center (CGC) for providing various strains used in this study, and J. Starck, G. Mouchiroud and F. Morlé for technical advice. The authors thank P.O. Barome, P. Vernier, D. Rognan, and F. Bonneton for phylogenetic analysis. This work was supported by grants from the Association Française contre les Myopathies (AFM) and the European Community (MYORES) to L.S., and grants from Genome Canada and Genome BC, NSERC, and a CRC Chair to D.L.B.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CGMC, CNRS-UMR 5534, Université Claude Bernard Lyon-1, Université Lyon-1, 43 bld du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622, Villeurbanne cedex, France

    Maïté Carre-Pierrat, Laure Granger & Laurent Ségalat

  2. Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 1S6

    David Baillie & Robert Johnsen

  3. Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Center for Cancer Research and Harvard Medical School, 149-7202 13th Street, Charlestown, MA, 02129, USA

    Rhonda Hyde & Anne Hart

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  1. Maïté Carre-Pierrat
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  2. David Baillie
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  3. Robert Johnsen
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  4. Rhonda Hyde
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  5. Anne Hart
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  6. Laure Granger
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  7. Laurent Ségalat
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Correspondence to Laurent Ségalat.

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Carre-Pierrat, M., Baillie, D., Johnsen, R. et al. Characterization of the Caenorhabditis elegans G protein-coupled serotonin receptors. Invert Neurosci 6, 189–205 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-006-0033-z

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