Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell'Ambiente e della Vita, Università degli Studi di Genova, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
Cells. 2023 Apr 13;12(8):1150. doi: 10.3390/cells12081150.
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) is a biogenic monoamine with pleiotropic functions. It exerts its roles by binding to specific 5-HT receptors (5HTRs) classified into different families and subtypes. Homologs of 5HTRs are widely present in invertebrates, but their expression and pharmacological characterization have been scarcely investigated. In particular, 5-HT has been localized in many tunicate species but only a few studies have investigated its physiological functions. Tunicates, including ascidians, are the sister group of vertebrates, and data about the role of 5-HTRs in these organisms are thus important for understanding 5-HT evolution among animals. In the present study, we identified and described 5HTRs in the ascidian . During development, they showed broad expression patterns that appeared consistent with those reported in other species. Then, we investigated 5-HT roles in ascidian embryogenesis exposing embryos to WAY-100635, an antagonist of the 5HT1A receptor, and explored the affected pathways in neural development and melanogenesis. Our results contribute to unraveling the multifaceted functions of 5-HT, revealing its involvement in sensory cell differentiation in ascidians.
血清素（5-羟色胺（5-HT））是一种具有多种功能的生物单胺。它通过与特定的 5-羟色胺受体（5HTRs）结合来发挥作用，这些受体分为不同的家族和亚型。5HTRs 的同源物广泛存在于无脊椎动物中，但它们的表达和药理学特征研究甚少。特别是，5-HT 已在许多被囊动物物种中被定位，但只有少数研究调查了其生理功能。被囊动物包括尾索动物，是脊椎动物的姐妹群，因此关于 5-HTRs 在这些生物中的作用的数据对于理解动物中 5-HT 的进化非常重要。在本研究中，我们在尾索动物 中鉴定并描述了 5HTRs。在发育过程中，它们表现出广泛的表达模式，与在其他物种中报道的模式一致。然后，我们通过向 胚胎暴露于 5-HT1A 受体拮抗剂 WAY-100635 来研究 5-HT 在尾索动物胚胎发生中的作用，并探索了神经发育和黑色素生成中受影响的途径。我们的结果有助于揭示 5-HT 的多方面功能，揭示其在尾索动物感觉细胞分化中的作用。
