Specifically, the study revealed that serotonin signals through the serotonin 2A receptor by recruiting a regulatory protein called β-arrestin2. The actions of serotonin at the receptor were found to be far different than those produced by hallucinogenic N-methyltryptamines, a class of naturally occurring substances found in several plants and in minute amounts in the human body.
These substances are also found in the abused drug DMT.
The N-methyltryptamines activate the serotonin 2A receptor independently of β-arrestin2, researchers said.
The serotonin and the N-methyltryptamines both produce what is known as a head twitch response in animal models. Researchers determined that any interruption in the exclusive serotonin pathway prevents that response to serotonin but has no effect on N-methyltryptamine-induced head twitches.
This difference in response points to a distinct divergence in the signaling pathways utilized by these two neurotransmitters.
“Despite the fact that they activate the same receptor, serotonin leads to the assembly of a number of proteins associated with the receptor that the metabolites of serotonin do not produce,” Bohn said. “But whether the lack of this complex formation is why compounds like DMT lead to hallucinations is not clear.”
Serotonin Discovery Points to New Therapies for Schizophrenia, Depression
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