Explore / Peer-reviewed article
Peer-reviewed articleOpen access

A suite of engineered mice for interrogating psychedelic drug actions.

Chiu YTiD, Deutch AY, Wang W, Schmitz GP, Huang KL, Kocak DD, Llorach P, Bowyer KR, Liu B, Sciaky N, Hua K, Chen C, Mott SE, Niehaus J, DiBerto JF, English J, Walsh JJiD, Scherrer GiD, Herman MAiD, Wu ZiD, Wetsel WCiD, Roth BLiD

Nature neuroscienceAug 6, 2026License: open accessUnited States3 citationsDOI: 10.1038/s41593-026-02375-0

Abstract

Psychedelic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide and psilocybin, have emerged as potentially transformative therapeutics for various neuropsychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, migraine and cluster headaches. Classical psychedelics exert their effects through activation of 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A receptors (HTR2As). Here we provide a suite of engineered mice that will be useful for clarifying the role of HTR2A in psychedelic drug actions. We generated Htr2a<sup>EGFP-CreERT2</sup> mice to identify both HTR2A-EGFP-CT receptors and HTR2A-containing cells, thereby revealing HTR2A distribution in the brain. We also generated humanized Htr2a<sup>A242S</sup><sup>-EGFP-Cre</sup> and constitutive Htr2a<sup>Cre</sup> mice. Psychedelic-induced behavioral changes in these mice validated their utility for these studies. Electrophysiological investigations on brain sections from these mice revealed that 2,5,-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine induced robust increases in firing of genetically identified pyramidal neurons. These mouse lines are valuable tools for investigating the molecular, cellular, pharmacological, physiological, behavioral and other mechanisms of psychedelic actions in vivo.

Topics & conditions

Detected automatically by Psychedelic Commons from the title and abstract, not labels from the source. They may be incomplete.

PsilocybinLSDDepressionPTSDAnxietyPain

Psychedelic Commons aggregates metadata from open sources and links back to the original. Rights remain with the authors and publishers. Something wrong with this record? Report a problem.