Taking advantage of three cellular systems, we established that 5-HT 2B receptors are coupled with NO signaling pathways. In the 1C11 serotonergic cell line and Mastomys natalensis carcinoid cells, which naturally express the 5-HT 2B receptor, as well as in transfected LMTK ؊ fibroblasts, stimulation of the 5-HT 2B receptor triggers intracellular cGMP production through dual activation of constitutive nitric-oxide synthase (cNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS). The group I PDZ motif at the C terminus of the 5-HT 2B receptor is required for recruitment of the cNOS and iNOS transduction pathways. Indeed, the 5-HT 2B receptor-mediated NO coupling is abolished not only upon introduction of a competitor C-terminal 5-HT 2B peptide in the three cell types but also in LMTK ؊ fibroblasts expressing a receptor C-terminally truncated or harboring a point mutation within the PDZ domain. The occurrence of a direct functional coupling between the receptor and cNOS activity is supported by highly significant correlations between the binding constants of drugs on the receptor and their effects on cNOS activity. The 5-HT 2B /iNOS coupling mechanisms appear more complex because neutralization of endogenous G␣ 13 by specific antibodies cancels the cellular iNOS response while not interfering with cNOS activities. These findings may shed light on physiological links between the 5-HT 2B receptor and NO and constitute the first demonstration that PDZ interactions participate in downstream transductional pathways of a G protein-coupled receptor.The monoamine serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) 1 modulates a wide variety of human behavioral and physiological processes, such as sleep, anxiety, and cognition, as well as memory, perception, cardiovascular function, smooth muscle response, and gastrointestinal contraction (1, 2). So far, the diversity of 5-HT receptors and the lack of specific pharmacological tools have impaired the investigation of the precise roles of these proteins in the signaling networks that mediate 5-HT physiological functions. This is particularly true in the case of the 5-HT 2B receptor, which, like all the 15 known mammalian 5-HT receptor subtypes but one (5-HT 3 ), belongs to the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). 5-HT 2B receptors cDNA were cloned from the rat stomach fundus, mouse brain, human liver, and neuroblastoma cell lines (see Ref. 3 for review). The 5-HT 2B receptor could be expressed either by transfection or endogeneously during the serotonergic neuronal differentiation of 1C11 cells, referred to as 1C11* /5HT cells (4, 5). In both cases, the receptor couples with PIP 2 hydrolysis, similarly to the two other members (5-HT 2A and 5-HT 2C ) of the 5-HT 2 receptor family. In contrast, the 5-HT 2B receptor stimulation fails to stimulate PIP 2 hydrolysis in rat fundus (6) and in rat vasculature (7). Signaling processes involving 5-HT 2B receptors and distinct from PIP 2 hydrolysis might thus occur. Accordingly, 5-HT 2B -dependent activations of both the ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade (8) and ...