The binding of [3 H]methoxymethyl-3-[(2-methyl-1,3-thiazol-4-yl)ethynyl]pyridine (methoxymethyl-MTEP), a potent and selective antagonist for metabotropic glutamate (mGlu)5 receptors, was characterized in rat brain both in vitro and in vivo. Nonspecific binding, as defined with 10 M 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)-pyridine (MPEP), was less than 10% of total binding in rat brain membranes. , 1997). There are eight mGluR subtypes, which are subdivided into three groups principally based on sequence homology, but also on signal transduction pathways and agonist selectivity (Nakanishi, 1992;Pin and Duvoisin, 1995). Group I mGluRs initiate cell responses through G q/11 protein coupling to phospholipase C and stimulation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis. In contrast, group II and group III mGluRs are negatively coupled via G i /G o to adenylyl cyclase and reduce forskolinstimulated increases in cAMP in recombinant expression systems. Group I receptors are selectively activated by dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG), group II receptors can be stimulated by (2S,2ЈR,3ЈR)-2-(2Ј,3Ј-dicarboxycyclopropyl)glycine and (ϩ)-2-aminobicyclo[3.1.0]-hexane-2,6-dicarboxylate monohydrate (LY354740), and group III receptors are selectively stimulated by L-(ϩ)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid and (R,S)-4-phosphonophenylglycine (Schoepp et al., 1999).Group I mGluRs include the mGlu1 and mGlu5 subtypes. These two receptors exhibit a regional pattern of expression in the central nervous system, suggesting distinct, functional roles for each receptor (Spooren et al., 2001). For example, expression of mGlu5 receptor protein is high-to-moderate in frontal cortex, caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, olfacArticle, publication date, and citation information can be found at