Astrocytic 5-HT(2B) receptor as in vitro and in vivo target of SSRIs.

Astrocytic 5-HT(2B) receptor as in vitro and in vivo target of SSRIs. Recent Pat CNS Drug Discov. 2012 Dec;7(3):243-53 Authors: Peng L, Huang J Abstract Most studies in this journal describe recent patents. The present study only has one such reference. Instead, we hope that its contents will trigger investigation of antidepressant drugs along the suggested lines and lead to ensuing patent applications - first and foremost by more focus on astrocytes. Clinical research has already pointed towards the importance of these cells, which account for one quarter of brain cortical volume and at least as much of its oxidative metabolism. Astrocytes express a multitude of receptors, including 5-HT(2B) receptors. In cultured astrocytes acute treatment with any of the five SSRIs, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, sertraline, paroxetine, and citalopram, stimulates equipotently and with sufficient affinity to be therapeutically relevant, the 5-HT(2B) receptor. Following EGF receptor transactivation and a resultant autocrine HB-EGF stimulation, these drugs activate two interdependent signal pathways i) the Ras-Raf-Mek-ERK phosphorylation pathway and ii) the PI3K-AKT-GSK-3β pathway, eventually altering gene expression. Chronic treatment with fluoxetine upregulates gene expression of cPLA₂, ADAR2, GluK2 and 5-HT(2B) receptors, and RNA editing of the later two in cultured astrocytes and in astrocytes obtained by fluorescence-activated cell sorting of cells...
Source: Recent Patents on CNS Drug Discovery - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Recent Pat CNS Drug Discov Source Type: research