Identification of 5-HT_2A receptor signaling pathways associated with psychedelic potential.

ABSTRACT: Serotonergic psychedelics possess considerable therapeutic potential. Although 5-HT_2A receptor activation mediates psychedelic effects, prototypical psychedelics activate both 5-HT_2A-Gq/11 and β-arrestin2 transducers, making their respective roles unclear. To elucidate this, we develop a series of 5-HT_2A-selective ligands with varying Gq efficacies, including β-arrestin-biased ligands. We show that 5-HT_2A-Gq but not 5-HT_2A-β-arrestin2 recruitment efficacy predicts psychedelic potential, assessed using head-twitch response (HTR) magnitude in male mice. We further show that disrupting Gq-PLC signaling attenuates the HTR and a threshold level of Gq activation is required to induce psychedelic-like effects, consistent with the fact that ce

SUBMITTER: Wallach J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10724237 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature