RNA editing of serotonin 2C receptor in human postmortem brains of major mental disorders

The importance of serotonin 2C receptor (HTR2C) in mental disorders has been implicated by studies of HTR2C-deficient mice and linkage and association studies. Recent studies have revealed that RNA editing of HTR2C is involved in mental disorders. Here we examined RNA editing efficiencies of site A and D of HTR2C in the prefrontal cortex samples of patients with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and major depression as well as control subjects by using primer extension combined with denaturing high performance liquid chromatography. Postmortem samples were donated by the Stanley Foundation Brain Collection. We could not find significant alterations of RNA editing efficiencies of these sites in patients. However, we found trends for increased RNA editing efficiencies of site D in depressive patients (P=0.08) and site A in suicide victims (P=0.07). These findings are in accordance with the previous findings, and suggest that altered RNA editing of HTR2C may have some significance in major depression and suicide.