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Impacts of brain serotonin deficiency following Tph2 inactivation on development and raphe neuron serotonergic specification.

ABSTRACT: Brain serotonin (5-HT) is implicated in a wide range of functions from basic physiological mechanisms to complex behaviors, including neuropsychiatric conditions, as well as in developmental processes. Increasing evidence links 5-HT signaling alterations during development to emotional dysregulation and psychopathology in adult age. To further analyze the importance of brain 5-HT in somatic and brain development and function, and more specifically differentiation and specification of the serotonergic system itself, we generated a mouse model with brain-specific 5-HT deficiency resulting from a genetically driven constitutive inactivation of neuronal tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (Tph2). Tph2 inactivation (Tph2-/-) resulted in brain 5-HT deficiency leading to growth retardation and persistent leanness, whereas a sex- and age-dependent increase in body weight was observed in Tph2+/- mice. The conserved expression pattern of the 5-HT neuron-specific markers (except Tph2 and 5-HT) demonstrates that brain 5-HT synthesis is not a prerequisite for the proliferation, differentiation and survival of raphe neurons subjected to the developmental program of serotonergic specification. Furthermore, although these neurons are unable to synthesize 5-HT from the precursor tryptophan, they still display electrophysiological properties characteristic of 5-HT neurons. Moreover, 5-HT deficiency induces an up-regulation of 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(1B) receptors across brain regions as well as a reduction of norepinephrine concentrations accompanied by a reduced number of noradrenergic neurons. Together, our results characterize developmental, neurochemical, neurobiological and electrophysiological consequences of brain-specific 5-HT deficiency, reveal a dual dose-dependent role of 5-HT in body weight regulation and show that differentiation of serotonergic neuron phenotype is independent from endogenous 5-HT synthesis.

SUBMITTER: Gutknecht L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3422228 | biostudies-other | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Impacts of brain serotonin deficiency following Tph2 inactivation on development and raphe neuron serotonergic specification.

Gutknecht Lise L Araragi Naozumi N Merker Sören S Waider Jonas J Sommerlandt Frank M J FM Mlinar Boris B Baccini Gilda G Mayer Ute U Proft Florian F Hamon Michel M Schmitt Angelika G AG Corradetti Renato R Lanfumey Laurence L Lesch Klaus-Peter KP

PloS one 20120817 8

Brain serotonin (5-HT) is implicated in a wide range of functions from basic physiological mechanisms to complex behaviors, including neuropsychiatric conditions, as well as in developmental processes. Increasing evidence links 5-HT signaling alterations during development to emotional dysregulation and psychopathology in adult age. To further analyze the importance of brain 5-HT in somatic and brain development and function, and more specifically differentiation and specification of the seroton ...[more]

PMID: 22912815

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Project description:Serotonin is a neurotransmitter involved in many psychiatric diseases. In humans, a lack of 5-HT2B receptors is associated with serotonin-dependent phenotypes, including impulsivity and suicidality. A lack of 5-HT2B receptors in mice eliminates the effects of molecules that directly target serotonergic neurons including amphetamine derivative serotonin releasers, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that 5-HT2B receptors directly and positively regulate raphe serotonin neuron activity. By ex vivo electrophysiological recordings, we report that stimulation by the 5-HT2B receptor agonist, BW723C86, increased the firing frequency of serotonin Pet1-positive neurons. Viral overexpression of 5-HT2B receptors in these neurons increased their excitability. Furthermore, in vivo 5-HT2B-receptor stimulation by BW723C86 counteracted 5-HT1A autoreceptor-dependent reduction in firing rate and hypothermic response in wild-type mice. By a conditional genetic ablation that eliminates 5-HT2B receptor expression specifically and exclusively from Pet1-positive serotonin neurons (Htr2b 5-HTKO mice), we demonstrated that behavioral and sensitizing effects of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), as well as acute behavioral and chronic neurogenic effects of the antidepressant fluoxetine, require 5-HT2B receptor expression in serotonergic neurons. In Htr2b 5-HTKO mice, dorsal raphe serotonin neurons displayed a lower firing frequency compared to control Htr2b lox/lox mice as assessed by in vivo extracellular recordings and a stronger hypothermic effect of 5-HT1A-autoreceptor stimulation was observed. The increase in head-twitch response to DOI (2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine) further confirmed the lower serotonergic tone resulting from the absence of 5-HT2B receptors in serotonin neurons. Together, these observations indicate that the 5-HT2B receptor acts as a direct positive modulator of serotonin Pet1-positive neurons in an opposite way as the known 5-HT1A-negative autoreceptor.

Dataset Information

Impacts of brain serotonin deficiency following Tph2 inactivation on development and raphe neuron serotonergic specification.

Publications

Impacts of brain serotonin deficiency following Tph2 inactivation on development and raphe neuron serotonergic specification.

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