Involvement of 5-HT7 receptors in serotonergic effects on spike afterpotentials in presumed jaw-closing motoneurons of rats.

Intracellular recordings were obtained from rat presumed jaw-closing motoneurons in slice preparations to investigate the involvement of the serotonin(7) (5-HT(7)) receptors in serotonergic inhibition of the postspike medium-duration afterhyperpolarization (mAHP) and enhancement of the afterdepolarization (ADP). 5-HT-induced suppression of the mAHP and enhancement of the ADP were mimicked by application of the 5-HT(1A/7) receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) and antagonized by the 5-HT(2/6/7) receptor antagonist clozapine, whereas the 5-HT(2) receptor agonist alpha-methyl-5-hydroxytryptamine (alpha-methyl-5-HT) did not affect the mAHP and ADP. 8-OH-DPAT-induced attenuation of the mAHP and enhancement of the ADP were also antagonized by clozapine and another 5-HT(2/6/7) receptor antagonist ritanserin, whereas the 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist pindolol failed to block the 8-OH-DPAT-induced effects on the mAHP and ADP. 8-OH-DPAT-induced suppression of the mAHP and enhancement of the ADP were also antagonized by a protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H89, whereas 8-OH-DPAT could inhibit the mAHP and enhance the ADP in the presence of a protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor chelerythrine. The 8-OH-DPAT-induced suppression of the mAHP was enhanced under raised [Ca(2+)](o) and this enhancement was reduced by chelerythrine. It is suggested that the 5-HT(7) receptors are involved in 5-HT-induced attenuation of the mAHP and enhancement of the ADP through activation of PKA, and the attenuation of mAHP through the 5-HT(7) receptors is enhanced under raised [Ca(2+)](o) by PKC activation. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.