Metabotropic glutamate receptor 8

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 8 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GRM8 gene.

Function

L-glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and activates both ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors. Glutamatergic neurotransmission is involved in most aspects of normal brain function and can be perturbed in many neuropathologic conditions. The metabotropic glutamate receptors are a family of G protein-coupled receptors, that have been divided into 3 groups on the basis of sequence homology, putative signal transduction mechanisms, and pharmacologic properties. Group I includes GRM1 and GRM5 and these receptors have been shown to activate phospholipase C. Group II includes GRM2 and GRM3 while Group III includes GRM4, GRM6, GRM7 and GRM8. Group II and III receptors are linked to the inhibition of the cyclic AMP cascade but differ in their agonist selectivities. Alternative splice variants of GRM8 have been described but their full-length nature has not been determined.

Ligands

• (S)-3,4-DCPG: agonist

See also

• Metabotropic glutamate receptor

Model organisms

Model organisms have been used in the study of GRM8 function. A conditional knockout mouse line called Grm8^{tm2a(KOMP)Wtsi} was generated at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Male and female animals underwent a standardized phenotypic screen to determine the effects of deletion. Additional screens performed: - In-depth immunological phenotyping

Grm8 knockout mouse phenotype

Characteristic	Phenotype
All data available at.
Insulin	Normal
Homozygous viability at P14	Normal
Homozygous Fertility	Normal
Body weight	Normal
Neurological assessment	Normal
Grip strength	Normal
Dysmorphology	Normal
Indirect calorimetry	Normal
Glucose tolerance test	Normal
Auditory brainstem response	Normal
DEXA	Normal
Radiography	Normal
Eye morphology	Normal
Clinical chemistry	Normal
Haematology 16 Weeks	Normal
Peripheral blood leukocytes 16 Weeks	Normal
Heart weight	Normal
Salmonella infection	Normal

Further reading

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.