Exciting Times beyond the Brain: Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors in Peripheral and Non-Neural Tissues

Relationships between calpains and glutamate- or kainate-induced apoptosis in Xenopus laevis tadpoles

“…Different studies showed that the presence of GluRs was not restricted to the nervous system. These receptors could be found in peripheral tissues and they were particularly described in Xenopus laevis [6,56,57]. The iGluRs were precociously expressed during embryogenesis and they appeared to become functional before the growth period in Xenopus laevis [58][59][60].…”

Cystathionine Is a Novel Substrate of Cystine/Glutamate Transporter

“…In addition, several glutamate transporters play an important role in regulating extracellular glutamate levels in the central nervous system. Recently, the importance of glutamate receptors in non-neural tissues has been recognized (44). Especially, in the immune system, several glutamate receptors are expressed in T cells, and several glutamate transporters are expressed in antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages (45).…”

Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors in Peripheral Tissues: Implications for Toxicology

“…mGluR2/3 show positive immunoreactivity for the most superficial layer of the stratified squamous epithelium of the exocervix in rat uterus (Gill & Pulido, 2001). mGluR2/3 expression is predominant in proliferating ovarian and uterine structures, which indicates that its production may be cyclically regulated (Julio-Pieper et al, 2011). All this evidence indicates that these receptors may be involved in ovulation, fertilization, implantation of the ovum and excitability of the uterus (Gill & Pulido, 2001).…”

“…All mGluRs except mGluR3 have been identified in the retina, with a differential distribution depending on the cell layers of retina (Connaughton, 2005), whereas mGluR6 activation have physiological significance (Gerber, 2003). In fact, defects in mGluR6 gene lead to congenital stationary blindness (Julio-Pieper et al, 2011). mGluR8 were clearly found in photoreceptor terminals in mammalian retina (Brandstätter et al, 1998;Koulen et al, 1999), their activation causing a decrease in [Ca 2+ ]i in isolated rat photoreceptors (Koulen et al, 1999) and preventing glutamate excitotoxicity.…”