The interaction between mGluR1 and the calcium channel CaV2.1 preserves coupling in the presence of long Homer proteins

Abstract

Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR1 and 5) are G protein coupled receptors that regulate neuronal activity in a number of ways. Some of the most well studied functions of group I mGluRs, such as initiation of multiple forms of mGluR-dependent long-term depression, require receptor localization near the post-synaptic density (PSD). This localization is in turn dependent on the Homer family of scaffolding proteins which bind to a small motif on the distal C-termini of mGluR1 and 5, localize the receptors near the PSD, strengthen coupling to post-synaptic effectors and simultaneously uncouple the mGluRs from extra-synaptic effectors such as voltage dependent ion channels. Here the selectivity of this uncoupling process was examined by testing the ability of Homer-2b to uncouple mGluR1 from multiple voltage dependent calcium channels including CaV2.2 (N-type), CaV3.2 (T-type), and CaV2.1 (P/Q-type) expressed in rat sympathetic neurons from the superior cervical ganglion (SCG). Of these, only the mGluR1–CaV2.1 modulatory pathway was insensitive to Homer-2b expression. Uncoupling from this channel was achieved by co-expression of an mGluR1 C-terminal protein designed to disrupt a previously described direct interaction between these two proteins, suggesting that this interaction allows incorporation of CaV2.1 into the mGluR1/Homer signaling complex, thereby preserving modulation in the presence of scaffolding Homer proteins.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled ‘Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors’.