Division of Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Department of Neurology, Emory University, 954, Catewood Road Northeast, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2011;717:27-37. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4419-9557-5_3.
Kainate receptors (KARs) are one of the three subtypes of ionotropic glutamate receptors in the CNS. These receptors are widely expressed pre- and postsynaptically throughout the brain. Thus, kainate receptor activation mediates a large variety of pre- and postsynaptic effects on either glutamatergic or GABAergic synaptic transmission. Although ionotropic functions for KAR have been described in multiple brain regions, there is considerable evidence from various CNS regions that KARs activation modulates GABA release through either G-protein dependent metabotropic pathway or secondary activation of G-protein coupled receptors. In the present chapter, we provide further evidence supporting that these two pathways are also involved in the modulation of GABA release in specific basal ganglia nuclei. Because of their more subtle effects on neurotransmisison regulation than other ionotropic glutamate receptors, KARs represent interesting targets for the future development of pharmacotherapy for basal ganglia diseases.
kainate 受体 (KAR) 是中枢神经系统中三种离子型谷氨酸受体亚型之一。这些受体在整个大脑中广泛表达于突触前和突触后。因此，KAR 的激活介导了对谷氨酸能或 GABA 能突触传递的大量突触前和突触后作用。尽管 KAR 的离子型功能已在多个脑区得到描述，但来自不同中枢神经系统区域的大量证据表明，KAR 的激活通过 G 蛋白依赖性代谢型途径或 G 蛋白偶联受体的二次激活来调节 GABA 的释放。在本章中，我们提供了进一步的证据支持这两种途径也参与了特定基底神经节核团中 GABA 释放的调节。由于它们对神经递质调节的影响比其他离子型谷氨酸受体更微妙，因此 KAR 是未来治疗基底神经节疾病的药理学治疗的有趣靶点。
