Abstract
Glutamic acid has been believed to be an excitatory transmitter in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), and it has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neuronal damage in the mammalian CNS. There are two major classes of glutamate receptors, ionotropic (iGluR) and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR). Participation of iGluRs in glutamate-mediated neurotoxicity has been well documented; however, much less is known about the participation of mGluRs than the case for iGluRs. The physiological roles of mGluRs have been believed to regulate transmitter release and to modulate the function of iGluRs through activating various intracellular second messenger systems. Recently we have discovered several potent agonists for mGluRs that would provide additional information about glutamate-mediated neurotoxicity. In the present paper, we describe the pharmacological profiles of these mGluR agonists.
