5-HT2B Receptors: From Molecular Biology to Clinical Applications

Laurent Monassier is Professor of Pharmacology at the Strasbourg's University, Strasbourg, France, where he leads the Laboratory of NeuroCardiovascular Pharmacology and Toxicology (UR 7296). His research group is interested in the pharmacological modulation of the autonomic nervous system in cardiovascular diseases. In particular, he is interested in developing 5-HT2 receptor antagonists to protect cardiac valves lesions and other 5-HT ligands in various diseases affecting the lung, the heart and the central nervous system. He is also developing new compounds dedicated to various metabolic disorders associated with the metabolic syndrome.

Luc Maroteaux is Research Director at INSERM U1270, Institut du Fer à Moulin, Sorbonne University, Paris, France, and is leading the "Serotonin, microglia, plasticity and pathologies" team. His research is focusing into the control of neuronal plasticity in the central nervous system and its pathological and pharmacological alterations. In particular, the team discovered that the serotonin 5-HT2B receptor acts in the brain by increasing extracellular serotonin concentrations by a neuron control mechanism that produces serotonin, and that this receptor is involved in impulsive and depressive behaviors. They are currently working on an original concept focusing on the inflammatory origin of certain psychiatric illnesses, always focusing on serotonin.