title: Functional relevance of neurotransmitter receptor heteromers in the central nervous system.
abstract: The existence of neurotransmitter receptor heteromers is becoming broadly accepted and their functional significance is being revealed. Heteromerization of neurotransmitter receptors produces functional entities that possess different biochemical characteristics with respect to the individual components of the heteromer. Neurotransmitter receptor heteromers can function as processors of computations that modulate cell signaling. Thus, the quantitative or qualitative aspects of the signaling generated by stimulation of any of the individual receptor units in the heteromer are different from those obtained during coactivation. Furthermore, recent studies demonstrate that some neurotransmitter receptor heteromers can exert an effect as processors of computations that directly modulate both pre- and postsynaptic neurotransmission. This is illustrated by the analysis of striatal receptor heteromers that control striatal glutamatergic neurotransmission.
authors: Behavioral Neuroscience Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. sferre@intra.nida.nih.gov
authors: Sergi
authors: S
authors: Ferré
authors: Francisco
authors: F
authors: Ciruela
authors: Amina S
authors: AS
authors: Woods
authors: Carme
authors: C
authors: Lluis
authors: Rafael
authors: R
authors: Franco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000502:physiology*; D017661:Receptors, Presynaptic / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter; D017661:Receptors, Presynaptic