Abstract
Presynaptic kainate receptors with distinct subunit composition could provide the key for unraveling the physiology of epilepsy. A recent study by Contractor et al. using gene-targeted (mGluR5−/− and mGluR6−/−) mice to determine the receptor subunits involved in the modulation of glutamate release in the hippocampus, a brain structure that is damaged in epileptiform-type seizures. The authors concluded that receptor subunit mGluR6 is critical for mossy fiber and collateral inputs to the CA3 area, whereas a complex mix of mGluR5 and mGluR6 are required for the increase in the perforant path synaptic input onto CA3 neurons. These results further clarify the receptor compositions that underlie the activation of signaling pathways leading to synaptic hyperexcitability and neuronal cell loss. J. Neurosci. (2000) 20, 8269–8278. (SS).
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