The glutamate receptor (GluR) channel δ2 subunit is expressed abundantly and specifically in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Our previous study demonstrated that the GluR δ2 mRNA is expressed as early as embryonic day 15 prior to Purkinje cell synaptogenesis, and its protein product accumulates in dendritic spines during normal Purkinje cell maturation. In this study, we examined expression and distribution of the GluR δ2 in the weaver and reeler mutant cerebelli, which show abnormal cytoarchitecture and neural circuitry. In situ hybridization analysis showed that GluR δ2 mRNA was expressed in entire Purkinje cells in both mutant mice. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that intracellular localization of GluR δ2 was altered in some region of mutant cerebelli. In the cortical surface where Purkinje cells form synapses with parallel fibers, GluR δ2-immunoreactivity was restricted to dendritic spines of Purkinje cells as observed in normal mice. In contrast, in the subcortical region where granule cells and parallel fibers are absent, the immunoreactivity was found widely in Purkinje dendrites. Thus, the GluR δ2 protein did not accumulate to the dendritic spines of Purkinje cells lacking synaptic contact with parallel fibers. These results suggest that the expression of both GluR δ2 mRNA and protein is independent of abnormalities in the mutant cerebelli, but relocalization of the GluR δ2 protein might depend on the formation of synapses between Purkinje cells and parallel fibers.