Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Sci. STKE, 9 November 1999
Vol. 1999, Issue 7, p. tw6
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.71999tw6]

EDITORS' CHOICE

Neurotransmitter release Neurotransmitter release: Presynaptic Inhibition

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) constitute an important class of receptors and are widespread in the nervous system. However, their mechanism of action is still poorly understood. O'Connor et al. describe a series of experiments designed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of how group III mGluRs cause presynaptic inhibition of hippocampal excitatory transmission. They show that the intracellular tail of mGluR7 binds calmodulin in a Ca2+-dependent manner. The intracellular part of the protein can also bind G-protein β{gamma} subunits, but only in the absence of calmodulin, which suggests that binding of calmodulin and β{gamma} subunit is mutually exclusive. The authors present a model in which Ca2+-influx during depolarization of the presynaptic terminal not only triggers neurotransmitter release but also activates calmodulin, which in turn releases β{gamma} subunits from mGluRs, and subsequently induces presynaptic inhibition.

O'Connor, V., El Far, O., Bofill-Cardona, E., Nanoff, C., Freissmuth, M., Karschin, A., Airas, J.M., Betz, H., and Boehm, S. (1999) Calmodulin dependence of presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling. Science 286: 1180-1184. [Abstract] [Full Text]

Citation: Neurotransmitter release: Presynaptic Inhibition. Sci. STKE 1999, tw6 (1999).

To Advertise     Find Products

Science Signaling. ISSN 1937-9145 (online), 1945-0877 (print). Pre-2008: Science's STKE. ISSN 1525-8882