The developmental role of serotonin : lessons from new genetic models targeting serotonin production or storage
-
1
Institut du Fer à Moulin, INSERM Unité 839, France
Serotonin has been shown to have multiple effects during development, some of which lead to long lasting effects on behavioral control. Previous studies have shown the developmental roles of serotonin using genetic mouse models, in which there is a defective clearance of serotonin (MAOA KO; 5-HTT-KO). This talk will focus on new models of serotonin depletion, reviewing results obtained in different laboratories, and a novel model produced in our laboratory, in which serotonin release mechanisms are specifically invalidated in the raphe neurons.
To understand the developmental role of serotonin, one has to take into account the different sources of serotonin during development. The first source comes from the mother during early embryonic periods, and then during the second half of gestation serotonin begins to be produced in the periphery and in the brain. Moreover, in late embryonic life, and early postnatal period, some neuronal subtypes are able to take up serotonin and store it into vesicles. All these serotoninergic phenotypes are differently programmed during development, and express different combinations of serotonin synthesizing enzymes, TPH isoforms (TPH1, TPH2), or vesicular monoamine transporters (VMAT1, VMAT2). Genetic models targeting these genes or upstream transcription factors are yielding important gateways to understand the roles of different serotonin sources in development.The new model that we will describe is based on the conditional deletion of the VMAT2 gene in the serotonin neurons. This causes a profound and selective depletion of serotonin in the brain and indicated an important effect of serotonin on postnatal growth and the control of impulsive related behaviors.
Conference:
3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience , Alexandria, Egypt, 13 Dec - 16 Dec, 2009.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Symposium 14 – Serotonin neurobiology: new vistas
Citation:
Gaspar
P
(2009). The developmental role of serotonin : lessons from new genetic models targeting serotonin production or storage.
Front. Neurosci.
Conference Abstract:
3rd Mediterranean Conference of Neuroscience .
doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.01.2009.16.050
Copyright:
The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers.
They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters.
The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated.
Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed.
For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions.
Received:
19 Nov 2009;
Published Online:
19 Nov 2009.
*
Correspondence:
Patricia Gaspar, Institut du Fer à Moulin, INSERM Unité 839, Paris, France, patricia.gaspar@inserm.fr