Regulation of serotonin 2a receptor gene htr2a by the early growth response 3

Speaker: Xiuli Zhao, Interdisciplinary Graduate Degree Program

“Regulation of serotonin 2a receptor gene htr2a by the early growth response 3 (Egr3)”

The immediate early gene EGR3 is associated with schizophrenia in humans and expressed at reduced levels in postmortem patients’ brains. We previously found that, in addition to schizophrenia-like behavioral abnormalities, Egr3 -/- mice have a nearly 70% decrease in prefrontal cortical serotonin 2A receptors (5HT2ARs). This underlies their resistance to sedation by clozapine, a phenomenon that parallels the increased tolerance of schizophrenia patients to antipsychotic side effects. These findings led us to hypothesize that EGR3, a transcription factor, directly regulates the expression of the 5HT2AR - encoding gene Htr2a. I will present research we have done to test this hypothesis and I will discuss how our findings inform about the potential regulation of the schizophrenia candidate gene HTR2A.