Roles of 5-HT1A receptor in the expression of AMPA receptor and BDNF in developing mouse cortical neurons

The possible interactions between serotonergic and glutamatergic systems during neural development and under the pathogenesis of depression remain unclear. We now investigated roles of 5-HT1A receptor in the mRNA expression of AMPA receptor subunits (GluR1 and GluR2) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) using primary culture of cerebral cortex of mouse embryos. Neurons at embryonic day 18 were cultured for 3 days or 14 days and then treated with 5-HT1A receptor agonist (8-OH-DPAT) for 3 h or 24 h. In neurons cultured for 3 days, 8-OH-DPAT treatment for both 3 h and 24 h increased the mRNA levels of BDNF and GluR1, but not GluR2. In neurons cultured for 14 days, however, 8-OH-DPAT had no effects on these mRNA levels. Next, we examined in vivo roles of 5-HT1A receptor by administration of 8-OH-DPAT to newborn mice. Twenty-four hours after the oral administration of 8-OH-DPAT, the mRNA expression of BDNF was decreased in the frontal cortex, but had no effects on the mRNA expression of GluR1 and GluR2. Taken together, the present study suggests that 5-HT1A receptor activation modulates mRNA expression of AMPA receptor subunit and BDNF in cortical neurons, and the effects are different between in vitro and in vivo.