In cerebellar slices, the lowering of oxygen availability, obtained by bubbling N 2 in the medium, reduced the incorporation of radioactive serine into phosphatidylserine (PtdSer). CPCCOEt, an antagonist of metabotropic glutamate receptors type 1 (mGluR1) counteracted the effect, whereas antagonists of NMDA or AMPA receptors were ineffective. In oxygenated slices, agonists of Group I mGluRs, which include mGluR1, inhibited PtdSer synthesis. This effect was also counteracted by CPCCOEt. These findings indicate that glutamate inhibits PtdSer synthesis by acting on mGluR1. This could be important in relation to the known release of glutamate in hypoxia-ischaemia conditions. In cerebellar Purkinje cells, mGluR1 are involved in the generation of mGluR-EPSP evoked by parallel fibre stimulation. The administration of L-serine to cerebellar slices reduced in a dose-dependent manner the mGluR-EPSP evoked by parallel fibre stimulation. The effect was mostly due to the increased synthesis of PtdSer. Thus inhibition of PtdSer synthesis, mediated by mGluR1, may participate in the generation of mGluR-EPSP. Membrane phospholipids play relevant roles in cell functions, including response to external stimuli involving signal transduction mechanisms. Since the early demonstration that diacylglycerol (DAG) produced from phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP 2 ) acts as second messenger for the activation of protein kinase C (PKC), many reports have evidenced the complexity of this transduction pathway, which involves other membrane phospholipids. In fact, DAG originates not only from PIP2 and various lipid mediators modulate PKC activity (for a review see Nishizuka 1995). Membrane phospholipids are not only the source of PKC modulators but also the substrate for PKC-regulated enzymes that, in turn, produce lipid mediators and the complex network underlying signal transduction is characterized by strict cross-talk between the various lipid components. The dependence of all PKC isoforms on phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) focussed attention also on the eventual role of this phospholipid (for a review see Nishizuka 1995) and it has been suggested that DAG turns the enzyme on, whereas PtdSer influences the specificity toward different substrates (Newton and Johnson 1998).PtdSer and its metabolism enzymes have received great attention with respect to their role in brain function, which can be based not only on the influence on PKC activity but also the capability of this phospholipid to modulate the Abbreviations used: CPCCOEt, 7-(hydroxyimino)cyclopropa[b]chromen-1a-carboxylate ethyl ester; DAG, diacylglycerols; D-AP5, D-(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid; EPSC, excitatory post-synaptic current; EPSP, excitatory post-synaptic potential; iGluR, ionotropic glutamate receptor; KRB, Krebs-Henseleit Ringer bicarbonate; NBQX, 2,3-dioxo-6-nitro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[f]quinoxaline-7-sulfonamide disodium salt; quisqualic acid, (L)-a-amino-3,5-dioxo-1,2,4-oxadiazolidine-2-propanoic acid; PLC, phospholipase C; PLD, phospholipase D; PtdS...