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Sleep and sleep homeostasis in mice lacking the 5-HT2c receptor
Marcos G Frank1, Michael P Stryker, Laurence H Tecott
1W. M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. mgf@phy.ucsf.edu
Abstract:
Studies in humans and rats indicate that serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) receptors are involved in mammalian sleep expression. We investigated the contribution of the 5-HT2c receptor to sleep expression by examining sleep patterns in mice bearing a targeted null mutation of this receptor. 5-HT2c receptor knock-out mice had more wakefulness, several abnormalities in rapid eye movement sleep expression and an enhanced response to sleep deprivation compared with wild-type control mice. These findings suggest that 5HT2c receptors may mediate several effects on sleep that have been ascribed to serotonin.