5-HT2C Receptors in the Pathophysiology of CNS Disease

Part of Springer’s “The Receptors,” series, this text is the first ever overview on the research of 5-HT2c receptors. 5-HT2c receptor research has been productive for twenty-five years, but recent years have seen an extraordinary increase in both amount produced and insight gained. 5-HT2c is a prominent central serotonin receptor subtype widely expressed within the central and the peripheral nervous system and is thought to play a key role in the regulation of numerous behaviors. This text covers the molecular, cellular, anatomical, biochemical and behavioral aspects of this receptor, highlighting its distinctive regulatory properties and the emerging functional significance of constitutive activity and RNA-editing in vivo. It also investigates the receptors’ therapeutic potential in many diseases, treated individually in separate chapters, including depression, drug abuse, schizophrenia, eating disorders, Parkinson’s disease, Prader-Willi Syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy.