Subject Number : S-18-NM-0052
Support Type : 機器利用
Proposal Title (English) : Roles of 5-HT on neural morphology
Username (English) : Lokesh Agrawal
Affiliation (English) : University of Tsukuba

1. Summary
Serotonin (5-HT) is known to play important role in the neural development, but specific role of 5-HT is still poorly understood. Hence, we extensively investigated the role of 5-HT in the development of hippocampal neurons in mice.

2. Experimental
We observed the effect of 5-HT on the development of neurons in hippocampal culture using immunohistochemistry.

3. Results and Discussion
We are Investigating the effect of 5-HTR on the development of neurons. 5-HT receptors play vital role in the development of brain as well as in synaptic plasticity. In adulthood study of these receptors is very useful for the treatment of various psychiatric and neuronal degrative diseases such as depression and Alzheimer’s.
Hence we are investigating the effect of 5-HT receptors on dendrite and axon formation, which will explore the mechanism of neural development. We found that treatment with 5-HT increases the neurites formation and branching in the hippocampal neurons. Which suggest the specific role of 5-HT during the brain development in prenatal stage. Which could be used for the treatment of neural developmental disorder like schizophrenia and Autism where abnormal growth of neurons were observed.

4. Others
I got technical support from Hattori san and Li Xianglan san during the imaging with confocal microscope. I would like to acknowledge both for their cooperation.