2018
Volume 18, Number 2, pp. 99–105
Some new aspects of metabotropic glutamate receptors
E. Tsitsilashvili,1 L. Shanshiashvili1, 2 and D. Mikeladze1, 2
1 Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
2 Beritashvili Centre for Experimental Biomedicine, Tbilisi, Georgia
Glutamate receptors (GluRs) are among the most-studied receptors within the CNS as they are included in a variety of physiological as well as pathological processes. Ionotropic (iGluRs) and metabotropic (mGluRs) receptors are the two main groups of glutamate receptors: iGluRs are multimeric ion channels that take part in fast synaptic transmission, while mGluRs are responsible for slow synaptic transmission via intracellular second messengers. Distribution among the CNS and the types of the responses they provide varies for different types of mGluRs. Here we summarize mGluRs’ contribution in the processes that occur in different CNS cell types and provide insight into pathological processes where mGluRs seem to play a major rôle.