5-Hydroxytryptamine 6 Receptor (5-HT 6 R)-Mediated Morphological Changes via RhoA-Dependent Pathways.

The 5-HT6 R has been considered as an attractive therapeutic target in the brain due to its exclusive expression in the brain. However, the mechanistic linkage between 5-HT6 Rs and brain functions remains poorly understood. Here, we examined the effects of 5-HT6 R-mediated cell morphological changes using immunocytochemistry, Western blot, and live-cell imaging assays. Our results showed that the activation of 5-HT6 Rs caused morphological changes and increased cell surface area in HEK293 cells expressing 5-HT6 Rs. Treatment with 5-HT specifically increased RhoA-GTP activity without affecting other Rho family proteins, such as Rac1 and Cdc42. Furthermore, live-cell imaging in hippocampal neurons revealed that activation of 5-HT6 Rs using a selective agonist, ST1936, increased the density and size of dendritic protrusions along with the activation of RhoA-GTP activity and that both effects were blocked by pretreatment with a selective 5-HT6 R antagonist, SB258585. Taken together, our results show that 5-HT6 R plays an important role in the regulation of cell morphology via a RhoA-dependent pathway in mammalian cell lines and primary neurons.