Author: Benarroch, E.E.
Description: Glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS and acts via two main classes of receptors: ionotropic and metabotropic. Whereas ionotropic receptors are responsible for fast excitatory synaptic transmission, metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have an important role in synaptic modulation throughout the CNS. Different subtypes of mGluRs regulate neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity, neurotransmitter release, and glial functions, which are important for brain development and mechanisms of learning, injury, and neuroprotection. Not surprisingly, mGluRs have been implicated in the pathophysiology of several neurologic and psychiatric disorders, including hypoxic injury, epilepsy, Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, pain, anxiety, schizophrenia, and drug addiction. The development of selective non-competitive allosteric modulators of different subtypes of mGluRs allows elucidating the physiologic role of these receptors and their potential as therapeutic targets in neurologic disorders. This brief review focuses on the synaptic effects of mGluRs in some representative circuits and the potential clinical and therapeutic implications. Several publications provide a comprehensive coverage of these and related topics.
Subject headings: Allosteric Regulation/drug effects/physiology; Animals; Brain/drug effects/metabolism/physiopathology; Brain Diseases/drug therapy/metabolism/physiopathology; Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists/pharmacology/therapeutic use; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/pharmacology/therapeutic use; Glutamic Acid/metabolism; Humans; Neural Pathways/drug effects/metabolism/physiopathology; Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate/drug effects/metabolism; Synaptic Transmission/drug effects/physiology
Publication year: 2008
Journal or book title: Neurology
Volume: 70
Issue: 12
Pages: 964-968
Find the full text : https://n.neurology.org/content/70/12/964.short
Find more like this one (cited by): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=3140685750080654544&as_sdt=1000005&sciodt=0,16&hl=en
Type: Journal Article
Serial number: 326