Role of Serotonin Transporter in Eye Development of Drosophila melanogaster

Serotonin transporter (SerT) in the brain is an important neurotransmitter transporter involved in mental health. However, its role in peripheral organs is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the function of SerT in the development of the compound eye in . We found that SerT knockdown led to excessive cell death and an increased number of cells in S-phase in the posterior eye imaginal disc. Furthermore, the knockdown of in the eye disc suppressed the activation of Akt, and the introduction of effectively rescued this phenotype. These results suggested that SerT plays a role in the healthy eye development of by controlling cell death through the regulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway.