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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Eur J Neurosci. 2012 May;35(10):1563–1572. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2012.8096.x

Table 1.

Summary of genetic/pharmacological manipulations affecting 5-HT signaling and their effect on TCA pathway and BF formation.

Model name Manipulation/Gene affected Duration Effect on extracellular brain 5-HT concentration Effects on TCAs (prenatal) Effects on BF (postnatal) References
PCPA Pharmacological blocker of TPH1/2; inhibits 5-HT synthesis non-specifically P0–P10 Decrease n.d. - Reduction of BF areas in cortical layer IV (S1)
- Delayed barrel pattern maturation		 (Persico et al., 2000)
MAOA-KO MAOA gene not functional; decreased 5-HT degradation Lifelong Increase n.d. - PMBSF and AS fused
- BF surface area in S1 enlarged by 20%.		 (Cases et al., 1995; Cases et al., 1996; Rebsam et al., 2002)
SERT-KO SERT (slc6a4) gene knockout; reduced 5-HT uptake Lifelong Increase n.d. - Only few PMBSF barrels visible
- Thinning of cortical layer IV
- Altered cortical development		 (Persico et al., 2001; Altamura et al., 2007; Murphy & Lesch, 2008)
VMAT2-KO VMAT2 (slc18a2) gene knockout; reduced intracellular 5-HT uptake. Lifelong (die at P5) Decrease n.d. - Delayed emergence of barrel patterning
- Development of upper cortical layers severely delayed		 (Persico et al., 2001; Alvarez et al., 2002)
TPH2-KO TPH-2 gene knockout; no central 5-HT synthesis Lifelong Decrease (CNS only) n.d. Normal (Gutknecht et al., 2008)
Pet1-KO Pet1 gene knockout; 80% of 5-HT neurons fail to differentiate Lifelong Decrease (CNS/PNS) Normal Normal at P7 (see Fig. 1) Gaspar, unpublished observations
5-HT1B-KO 5-HT1B (htr1b) gene knockout; reduced 5-HT signaling in subsets of neurons (incl. thal/raphe). Lifelong n.d. (decreased 5-HT signaling) n.d. normal (Salichon et al., 2001)
5-HT1B/D- in utero electro-poration In utero electroporation of 5-HT1B/1D receptors siRNAs; decreased both receptor expression E12.5–E18.5 n.d. (decreased 5-HT signaling in thalamic neurons only) Ventrolateral shift of TCAs in IC and cortex n.d. (Bonnin et al., 2007)
5-HT1B/D- in utero electro-poration In utero electroporation of 5-HT1B/1D receptors expression plasmids; increased both receptor expression E12.5–E18.5 n.d. (increased 5-HT signaling in thalamic neurons only) Dorsomedial shift of TCAs in IC and cortex n.d. (Bonnin et al., 2007)