5-HT receptor knockouts: Constitutive, inducible or tissue-specific

Abstract

Recently, molecular cloning has confirmed and extended our knowledge of the heterogeneity of 5-HT receptors. Besides creating some confusion, molecular techniques have provided new tools to study the function of 5-HT receptors. Recent results gained from targeted disruption of the genes encoding the 5-HT_1B and 5-HT_2C receptors have provided confirmation of pharmacological studies as well as unexpected effects. Such ‘constitutive knockouts’ might undergo compensatory changes during their development that could confound the interpretation of the mutant phenotype. New strategies are currently being developed that may enable receptor expression to be turned on and off at will in specific tissues.