title: How much do we know about the coupling of G-proteins to serotonin receptors?
abstract: Serotonin receptors are G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) involved in a variety of psychiatric disorders. G-proteins, heterotrimeric complexes that couple to multiple receptors, are activated when their receptor is bound by the appropriate ligand. Activation triggers a cascade of further signalling events that ultimately result in cell function changes. Each of the several known G-protein types can activate multiple pathways. Interestingly, since several G-proteins can couple to the same serotonin receptor type, receptor activation can result in induction of different pathways. To reach a better understanding of the role, interactions and expression of G-proteins a literature search was performed in order to list all the known heterotrimeric combinations and serotonin receptor complexes. Public databases were analysed to collect transcript and protein expression data relating to G-proteins in neural tissues. Only a very small number of heterotrimeric combinations and G-protein-receptor complexes out of the possible thousands suggested by expression data analysis have been examined experimentally. In addition this has mostly been obtained using insect, hamster, rat and, to a lesser extent, human cell lines. Besides highlighting which interactions have not been explored, our findings suggest additional possible interactions that should be examined based on our expression data analysis.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giulietti
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vivenzio
authors.affiliation: Department of Specialized Clinical Sciences and Odontostomatology, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy. f.piva@univpm.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Piva
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Principato
authors.forename: Cesario
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bellantuono
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nardi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D011485:Protein Binding; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000378:metabolism; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins