Pharmacological agents acting at subtypes of metabotropic glutamate receptors

Metabotropic (G-protein-coupled) glutamate (mGlu) receptors have now emerge d as a recognized, but still relatively new area of excitatory amino acid r esearch. Current understanding of the roles and involvement of mGlu recepto r subtypes in physiological/pathophysiological functions of the central ner vous system has been recently propelled by the emergence of various structu rally novel, potent, and mGlu receptor selective pharmacological agents. Th is article reviews the evolution of pharmacological agents that have been r eported to target mGlu receptors, with a focus on the known receptor subtyp e selectivities of current agents. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All right s reserved.