Metabotropic receptors

Synapses

Published in Nassir H. Sabah, Neuromuscular Fundamentals, 2020

In the case of ionotropic receptors, the binding of the neurotransmitter to the receptor opens an ion channel that allows ions to flow between the cytoplasm of the postsynaptic cell and the extracellular medium, thereby changing the membrane voltage of the postsynaptic cell. In metabotropic receptors, the binding of the neurotransmitter to the receptor may trigger changes in cell metabolism via intracellular second messengers in addition to the gating of ion channels.

Neurophysiological and molecular approaches to understanding the mechanisms of learning and memory

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Journal Information

Published in Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 2021

Shruthi Sateesh, Wickliffe C. Abraham

LTP can be generated through several intracellular signal transduction pathways, triggered by both ionotropic and metabotropic receptor activation at the relevant synapses. The major excitatory neurotransmitter in the hippocampus is glutamate, which binds to three types of ionotropic receptors: α-amino-3-hyroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole-propionic acid receptors (AMPAR), kainate receptors, and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR), as well as a range of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR). AMPA receptors mediate the majority of the fast excitatory synaptic transmission, while NMDA receptors are critical for the induction of most forms of LTP and LTD, expressed as changes in the AMPA receptor-mediated transmission.

Metabotropic receptors

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Synapses

Neurophysiological and molecular approaches to understanding the mechanisms of learning and memory