Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are members of a unique class of G protein-coupled receptors (class III) that include the calcium-sensing and ␥-aminobutyric acid type B receptors. The activity of mGluRs is regulated by second messenger-dependent protein kinases and G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs). The attenuation of both mGluR1a and mGluR1b signaling by GRK2 is phosphorylation-and -arrestin-independent and requires the concomitant association of GRK2 with both the receptor and G␣ q/11 . G protein interactions are mediated, in part, by the mGluR1 intracellular second loop, but the domains required for GRK2 binding are unknown. In the present study, we showed that GRK2 binds to the second intracellular loop of mGluR1a and mGluR1b and also to the mGluR1a carboxyl-terminal tail. Alanine scanning mutagenesis revealed a discrete domain within loop 2 that contributes to GRK2 binding, and the mutation of either lysine 691 or 692 to an alanine within this domain resulted in a loss of GRK2 binding to both mGluR1a and mGluR1b. Mutation of either Lys 691 or Lys 692 prevented GRK2-mediated attenuation of mGluR1b signaling, whereas the mutation of only Lys 692 prevented GRK2-mediated inhibition of mGluR1a signaling. Thus, the mGluR1a carboxyl-terminal tail may also be involved in regulating the signaling of the mGluR1a splice variant. Taken together, our findings indicated that kinase binding to an mGluR1 domain involved in G protein-coupling is essential for the phosphorylation-independent attenuation of signaling by GRK2.Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) 1 comprise a family of eight G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that are activated by the excitatory amino acid glutamate and play an important role in regulating neuronal development and synaptic plasticity (1-3). Group I mGluRs (mGluR1 and mGluR5) are coupled via the heterotrimeric G protein G␣ q/11 to the activation of phospholipase C, resulting in the formation of both inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate and diacylglycerol, as well as increases in intracellular Ca 2ϩ concentrations. The alternative gene splicing of mGluR1 generates five carboxyl-terminal domain mGluR1 splice variants (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e) (1-4). The G protein-coupling domain for these slice variants is conserved, and it is mediated by amino acid residues localized within the second and third intracellular loops and the membrane proximal region of the mGluR1 carboxyl-terminal tail (4).Similar to most GPCRs, mGluR activity is regulated by serine/threonine protein kinases (5-9). In general, the desensitization of GPCRs involves either phosphorylation by second messenger-dependent protein kinase or phosphorylation by G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) to promote the binding of arrestin proteins (10, 11). GRK2, GRK4, and GRK5 have each been demonstrated to contribute to the desensitization and internalization of mGluR1 in both heterologous cell cultures and Purkinje cells (5)(6)(7)(12)(13)(14)(15). Although GRK2 and GRK4 promote the -arrestin-dependent internalization of mGlu...