5-HT2A receptor

335615558ENSG00000102468ENSMUSG00000034997P28223P35363NM_001165947NM_000621NM_172812NP_000612NP_001159419NP_766400The mammalian 5-HT2A receptor is a subtype of the 5-HT2 receptor that belongs to the serotonin receptor family and is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). 5-HT is short for 5-hydroxy-tryptamine, which is serotonin. This is the main excitatory receptor subtype among the GPCRs for serotonin, although 5-HT2A may also have an inhibitory effect on certain areas such as the visual cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex. This receptor was first noted for its importance as a target of serotonergic psychedelic drugs such as LSD. Later it came back to prominence because it was also found to be mediating, at least partly, the action of many antipsychotic drugs, especially the atypical ones. The mammalian 5-HT2A receptor is a subtype of the 5-HT2 receptor that belongs to the serotonin receptor family and is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). 5-HT is short for 5-hydroxy-tryptamine, which is serotonin. This is the main excitatory receptor subtype among the GPCRs for serotonin, although 5-HT2A may also have an inhibitory effect on certain areas such as the visual cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex. This receptor was first noted for its importance as a target of serotonergic psychedelic drugs such as LSD. Later it came back to prominence because it was also found to be mediating, at least partly, the action of many antipsychotic drugs, especially the atypical ones. 5-HT2A may be a necessary receptor for the spread of the human polyoma virus called the JC virus. Downregulation of post-synaptic 5-HT2A receptor is an adaptive process provoked by chronic administration of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and classical antipsychotics. Suicidal and otherwise depressed patients have had more 5-HT2A receptors than normal patients. These findings suggest that post-synaptic 5-HT2A overdensity is involved in the pathogenesis of depression. Paradoxical down-regulation of 5-HT2A receptors can be observed with several 5-HT2A antagonists. Thus, instead of tolerance, reverse-tolerance would be expected from 5-HT2A antagonists. However, there is at least one antagonist at this site which has been shown to up-regulate 5-HT2A receptors. Additionally, a couple of other antagonists may have no effect on 5-HT2A receptor number. Nevertheless, upregulation is the exception rather than the rule. Neither tolerance nor rebound is observed in humans with regard to the SWS promoting effects of 5-HT2A antagonists. Serotonin receptors were split into two classes by Gaddum and Picarelli when it was discovered that some of the serotonin-induced changes in the gut could be blocked by morphine, whilst the remainder of the response was inhibited by dibenzyline leading to the naming of M and D receptors respectively. 5-HT2A is thought to correspond to what was originally described as D subtype of 5-HT receptors by Gaddum and Picarelli. In the pre-molecular-cloning era when radioligand binding and displacement was the only major tool, spiperone and LSD were shown to label two different serotonin receptors, and neither of them displaced morphine, leading to naming of the 5-HT1, 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 receptors, corresponding to high affinity sites from LSD, spiperone and morphine respectively. Later it was shown that the 5-HT2 was very close to 5-HT1C and thus were clubbed together, renaming the 5-HT2 into 5-HT2A. Thus the 5-HT2 receptor family is composed of three separate molecular entities: the 5-HT2A (formerly known as 5-HT2 or D), the 5-HT2B (formerly known as 5-HT2F) and the 5-HT2C (formerly known as 5-HT1C) receptors. 5-HT2A is expressed widely throughout the central nervous system (CNS).It is expressed near most of the serotoninergic terminal rich areas, including neocortex (mainly prefrontal, parietal, and somatosensory cortex) and the olfactory tubercle. Especially high concentrations of this receptor on the apical dendrites of pyramidal cells in layer V of the cortex may modulate cognitive processes, working memory, and attention by enhancing glutamate release followed by a complex range of interactions with the 5-HT1A, GABAA, adenosine A1, AMPA, mGluR2/3, mGlu5, and OX2 receptors. In the rat cerebellum, the protein has also been found in the Golgi cells of the granular layer, and in the Purkinje cells. In the periphery, it is highly expressed in platelets and many cell types of the cardiovascular system, in fibroblasts, and in neurons of the peripheral nervous system. Additionally, 5-HT2A mRNA expression has been observed in human monocytes. Whole-body distribution of the 5-HT2A/2C receptor agonist, Cimbi-36 show uptake in several internal organs and brown adipose tissue (BAT), but it is not clear if this represents specific 5-HT2A receptor binding. The 5-HT2A receptor is known primarily to couple to the Gαq signal transduction pathway. Upon receptor stimulation with agonist, Gαq and β-γ subunits dissociate to initiate downstream effector pathways. Gαq stimulates phospholipase C (PLC) activity, which subsequently promotes the release of diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol triphosphate (IP3), which in turn stimulate protein kinase C (PKC) activity and Ca2+ release. There are many additional signal cascade components that include the formation of arachidonic acid through PLA2 activity, activation of phospholipase D, Rho/Rho kinase, and ERK pathway activation initiated by agonist stimulation of the receptor.