Divergent actions of serotonin receptor activation during fictive swimming in frog embryos

We have investigated the pharmacology underlying locomotor system responses to serotonin (5-HT) in embryos of the frog, Rana temporaria, to provide a comparison to studies in embryos of its close relative, Xenopus laevis. Our findings suggest that two divergent mechanisms underlie the modulation of locomotion by 5-HT in Rana. Bath-applied 5-HT or 5-carboxamidotyptamine, a 5-HT(1,5A,7) receptor agonist, can modulate fictive swimming in a dose-dependent manner, increasing burst durations and cycle periods. However, activation of 5-HT(1,7) receptors with R8-OHDPAT or 8-OHDPAT fails to mimic 5-HT, and in some cases exerts exactly the opposite response; decreasing burst durations and cycle periods. Elevating endogenous 5-HT levels by blocking re-uptake with clomipramine transiently increases burst durations. The receptors involved in this endogenous response include 5-HT(1A) receptors, as in Xenopus, but also 5-HT(7) receptors. However, like the 8-OHDPAT enantiomers, prolonged re-uptake inhibition can result in a motor response in the opposite direction to exogenous 5-HT. This effect is not reversed by 5-HT(1A) and/or 5-HT(7) receptor antagonism, implicating 5-HT(1B/1D) receptors. Remarkably, antagonism of these receptors using methiothepin unmasks a dose-dependent response to clomipramine, reminiscent of exogenous 5-HT. Our data suggest that 5-HT(1A,7) and 5-HT(1B/1D) receptors act as gain-setters of burst durations, whilst 5-HT(5A) receptors are involved in the effects of bath-applied 5-HT on locomotion.