PHARMACOLOGY AND FUNCTIONS OF METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS

In the mid to late 1980s, studies were published that provided the fir st evidence for the existence of glutamate receptors that are not liga nd-gated cation channels but are coupled to effector systems through G TP-binding proteins. Since those initial reports, tremendous progress has been made in characterizing these metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), including cloning and characterization of cDNA that encodes a family of eight mGluR subtypes, several of which have multiple spli ce variants. Also, tremendous progress has been made in developing new highly selective mGluR agonists and antagonists and toward determinin g the physiologic roles of the mGluRs in mammalian brain. These findin gs have exciting implications for drug development and suggest that th e mGluRs provide a novel target for development of therepeutic agents that could have a significant impact on neuropharmacology.