RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Pharmacological and Molecular Characterization of 5-Hydroxytryptamine7 Receptors in the Rat Adrenal Gland JF Molecular Pharmacology JO Mol Pharmacol FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 552 OP 561 DO 10.1124/mol.56.3.552 VO 56 IS 3 A1 Vincent Contesse A1 Sebastien Lenglet A1 Luca Grumolato A1 Youssef Anouar A1 Isabelle Lihrmann A1 Herve Lefebvre A1 Catherine Delarue A1 Hubert Vaudry YR 1999 UL http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/56/3/552.abstract AB Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) is a potent stimulator of aldosterone secretion in the rat adrenal gland but the type of receptor involved in the mechanism of action of 5-HT remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the pharmacological profile and to clone the receptor responsible for the corticotropic effect of 5-HT in rat glomerulosa cells. A series of 10 serotonergic receptor agonists and 12 receptor antagonists was used to characterize the receptor mediating the effect of 5-HT on aldosterone secretion from perifused rat adrenocortical slices. Correlation analysis between the potencies of the different compounds in our model and those previously reported for various recombinant 5-HT receptors showed that the rat adrenal 5-HT receptor exhibits the same pharmacological profile as the 5-HT7 receptor transiently expressed in COS-7 cells (r = 0.82 for agonists, p < .05; r = 0.83 for antagonists,p < .01). Polymerase chain reaction with specific primers revealed the expression of 5-HT7 receptor mRNA in the rat adrenal gland. Cloning of the polymerase chain reaction product confirmed that the amplified DNA corresponded to the 5-HT7 receptor cDNA sequence. Western blot analysis showed the presence of a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 66 kDa in the adrenal cortex but not in the medulla. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the rat adrenal glomerulosa expresses functional 5-HT7 receptors. Rat glomerulosa cells will thus provide a robust and sensitive bioassay for future studies on native 5-HT7 receptors.