Pre- and postsynaptic localization of a metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR2, in the rat brain: an immunohistochemical study with a monoclonal antibody.

A monoclonal antibody against a metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR2, was produced by using a glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion protein containing an N-terminal sequence of rat mGluR2. Intense mGluR2-like immunoreactivity (mGluR2-LI) was seen mainly in neuropil of the cerebral cortical regions, hippocampus, olfactory bulb, some diencephalic nuclei, dorsal cochlear nucleus and cerebellar cortex. In the cerebellar cortex, mGluR2-LI was seen only in Golgi cells. In Ammon's horn, mGluR2-LI was marked in the stratum lucidum of CA3 and the stratum lacunosum-moleculare of CA1-CA3, but not detected in the stratum pyramidale. The results indicate that mGluR2 is located not only presynaptically but also postsynaptically.