Metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated long-term depression: molecular mechanisms

Pharmacol Rev. 2009 Dec;61(4):395-412. doi: 10.1124/pr.109.001735. Epub 2009 Nov 19.

Abstract

The ability to modify synaptic transmission between neurons is a fundamental process of the nervous system that is involved in development, learning, and disease. Thus, synaptic plasticity is the ability to bidirectionally modify transmission, where long-term potentiation and long-term depression (LTD) represent the best characterized forms of plasticity. In the hippocampus, two main forms of LTD coexist that are mediated by activation of either N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptors (NMDARs) or metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). Compared with NMDAR-LTD, mGluR-LTD is less well understood, but recent advances have started to delineate the underlying mechanisms. mGluR-LTD at CA3:CA1 synapses in the hippocampus can be induced either by synaptic stimulation or by bath application of the group I selective agonist (R,S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine. Multiple signaling mechanisms have been implicated in mGluR-LTD, illustrating the complexity of this form of plasticity. This review provides an overview of recent studies investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying hippocampal mGluR-LTD. It highlights the role of key molecular components and signaling pathways that are involved in the induction and expression of mGluR-LTD and considers how the different signaling pathways may work together to elicit a persistent reduction in synaptic transmission.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Long-Term Synaptic Depression / drug effects
  • Long-Term Synaptic Depression / physiology*
  • Neurons / drug effects
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate / genetics
  • Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate / metabolism
  • Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate / physiology*

Substances

  • Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists
  • Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate