Expression of group II mGluRs in the inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body, and auditory cortex increases with age.

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are widely expressed throughout the central nervous system. They are linked to G-protein coupled receptors and are known to modulate synaptic transmission. The data regarding their expression in auditory structures are not systematic and mainly originate from physiological studies where expression was used to support physiological findings. MGluRs are classified into three groups based on their sequence homology, G protein-coupling, and ligand selectivity. Our recent physiological findings made us focus on the group II mGluRs. The objective of this study was to characterize group II mGluR expression, and whether it changes in aged brains, in three central auditory structures: inferior colliculus (IC), medial geniculate body (MG), and auditory cortex (AC). We performed immunostaining experiments followed by optical density quantification in young and old mice. We found group II mGluR staining in the IC, MG, and AC. However, the intensity of this staining was not uniform within these auditory structures. In the IC expression was more intense in the dorsal compared to ventral part. Contrarily, the staining was more pronounced in the ventral part of the MG. In the AC, the staining was more intense near the surface and diminished toward white matter. We also found that the overall expression level of mGluR2/3 was increased significantly in aged animals in all auditory structures tested. Collectively, our detailed immunostaining findings suggest that the group II mGluRs are widely expressed throughout the central auditory system and their contribution to auditory processing increases with age.