The Glutamate Receptors

Abstract

Interest in the structures of the metabotropic glutamate receptors continues to increase for a variety of reasons, including the fact that they are now established drug targets and are linked to a wide spectrum of physiologic processes both within and outside the central nervous system. This chapter summarizes our knowledge of the structures of the eight receptor subtypes, including the alternatively spliced forms, and the experimental approaches that have been used to study them. The large size and multiple domains of these proteins are conducive to further advances in the development of drugs for potential therapeutic use, and for basic research directed toward elucidating the intrinsic signaling mechanisms of these complex molecules. Increasingly detailed analyses of protein–protein interactions between the metabotropic glutamate receptors and other signaling molecules will also contribute to a deeper understanding of how this class of receptors and related G protein-coupled receptors, function at the molecular level within biologic membranes in vivo.