5‐HT6 receptor recruitment of mTOR as a mechanism for perturbed cognition in schizophrenia

Abstract Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia severely compromise quality of life and are poorly controlled by current antipsychotics. While 5‐HT6 receptor blockade holds special promise, molecular substrates underlying their control of cognition remain unclear. Using a proteomic strategy, we show that 5‐HT6 receptors physically interact with several proteins of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, including mTOR. Further, 5‐HT6 receptor activation increased mTOR signalling in rodent prefrontal cortex (PFC). Linking this signalling event to cognitive impairment, the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin prevented deficits in social cognition and novel object discrimination induced by 5‐HT6 agonists. In two developmental models of schizophrenia, specifically neonatal phencyclidine treatment and post‐weaning isolation rearing, the activity of mTOR was enhanced in the PFC, and rapamycin, like 5‐HT6 antagonists, reversed these cognitive deficits. These observations suggest that recruitment of mTOR by prefrontal 5‐HT6 receptors contributes to the perturbed cognition in schizophrenia, offering new vistas for its therapeutic control.