Evolutionary considerations on 5-HT2 receptors

Abstract Serotonin is a neurotransmitter widely conserved from ancient organisms lacking nervous systems through man, and its presence precedes the appearance of nervous systems on both developmental and evolutionary time scales. Serotonin receptor subtypes diversified approximately at the time period during which vertebrates diverged from invertebrates. The biological and clinical importance of serotonin receptors, may benefit from studies on their evolution. Although potentially informative about their pathophysiological functions, reviews on this topic are sparse. Several observations support basic functions mediated by serotonin, both in periphery and central nervous system. In particular, 5-HT 2B receptors have been implicated in embryonic development, including cell proliferation, survival, and/or differentiation, in either neural crest cell derivatives, myeloid cell lineage, or heart embryogenesis. In this review, we collected existing data about the genomic association between the RPN2 proteasome subunit gene Psmd1 and the 5-HT 2B receptor gene Htr2b . We discuss about the possibility that, during genome duplications, a single copy of this pair of genes has been conserved, suggesting a strong selective pressure. Many basic physiological functions in which serotonin system is involved could be linked to the early association of these two genes in pre-vertebrates. Their evolutionary association highlights the possibility that the 5-HT 2B receptor gene, Htr2b, is the common ancestor of 5-HT 2A/2B/2C -receptor subfamily. Disentangling these possibilities could bring new understanding of the respective importance of these receptors in pathophysiology of serotonin.