TRANSCRIPTIONAL CONTROL OF THE RAT SEROTONIN-2 RECEPTOR GENE

Previous reports have indicated that, in vivo, the serotonin-2 (5-HT2) receptor is responsive to exogenously administered glucocorticoids. The ability of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to influence transcription of the rat 5-HT2 receptor gene was tested in two different experimental paradigms. In both sets of experiments transcription of the 5-HT2 gene was monitored with a promoter-reporter plasmid in which the promoter for the 5-HT2 gene was driving the expression of the firefly luciferase gene. In the first, the 5-HT2 promoter-reporter plasmid was transfected directly into RS1 cells followed by dexamethasone treatment. In the second set of experiments, the cDNA encoding the GR carried on a separate expression vector was cotransfected into CCL-39 or Neuro-2a cells along with the 5-HT2 promoter-reporter plasmid. These cells were then exposed to dexamethasone. In the RS-1 and CCL-39 transfection experiments, the dexamethasone treatment caused an inhibition of transcription of the 5-HT2 promoter, whereas in the Neuro-2a cells, the dexamethasone treatment stimulated transcription from the 5-HT2 promoter. These responses were dependent on the presence of the GR. The effect of the activated GR would seem to be indirect as sequence analysis of the 4.2 kb preceding the site of transcription initiation revealed only an 11/15 nt match to a putative glucocorticoid response element (GRE), and deletion of this sequence did not alter the response to dexamethasone. Sequence analysis revealed a variety of potential response elements for other known transcription factors, including four potential AP-1 response elements. To examine the functionality of these response elements, the components of the AP-1 complex, c-Fos and c-Jun were tested separately and in combination as AP-1 for their ability to influence transcription of the 5-HT2 promoter-reporter plasmid. Cell-selective enhancement or suppression by c-Fos and c-Jun of 5-HT2 transcription was observed in these experiments.