Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) is one of the most potent monoamine neurotransmitters and peripheral signaling molecules able to act as paracrine, endocrine, and exocrine messenger, and found stored in three main cell types.

While serotonergic neurons in the nervous system and intestinal myenteric plexus, and enterochromaffin cells in the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract can both uptake and synthesize 5-HT from its precursor “L-tryptophan”, blood platelets only rely upon 5-HT uptake for their stores. Serotonin is also synthesized in the pineal gland as a precursor of melatonin.

Physiologically, 5-HT has complex and diverse effects on central and peripheral neromodulation, neuroendocrine regulation, and immunological responses. In addition, it also plays an important part in the biochemistry of many pathophysiological conditions including depression, migraine, bipolar disorder, anxiety, gastrointestinal dysregulations, and cancer.

Therefore, evaluating serotonergic contents and their functional expression is critical to approach the complex 5-HT activities and requires compatible experimental tools.

We thus recently developed and added to our catalog a novel antibody raised against 5-HT (#IS1086, polyclonal), compatible with formalin-fixed biological materials. While allowing for the specific immunodetection of the serotonergic systems, our antibody has been validated for its use through immunochemistry and immunofluorescence applications on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples originating from different species.