5-HT2A Receptor
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). This is the main excitatory receptor subtype among the GPCRs for serotonin (5-HT), 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 given importance as the 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 JC virus.
Downregulation of post-synaptic 5-HT2A receptor is an adaptive process provoked by chronic administration of SSRIs and classical antipsychotics. Deceased 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.
Read more about 5-HT2A Receptor: History, Distribution, Signaling Cascade, Effects, Genetics, Neuroimaging, Role in Virus Endocytosis
Famous quotes containing the word receptor:
“The disinterest [of my two great-aunts] in anything that had to do with high society was such that their sense of hearing ... put to rest its receptor organs and allowed them to suffer the true beginnings of atrophy.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)