SUMMARYThe regulation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis by the type 1␣ metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR1␣) was investigated in stably transfected baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. Incubation of the cells with L-glutamate, quisqualate, and 1-aminocyclopentane-1S,3R-dicarboxylic acid resulted in a marked accumulation of 3 H]InsP 1 responses were similar in control and PTXtreated BHK-mGluR1␣ cells. These changes in the concentration-effect curves for mGluR agonists are consistent with a model in which the receptor associates with PTX-sensitive inhibitory (G i/o ) and PTX-insensitive stimulatory (G q/11 ) G proteins that can each influence PIC activity. The present observations are consistent with a dual regulation of mGluR1␣-mediated PIC activity that could be fundamental in controlling the output of phosphoinositide-derived messengers.The recent cloning of eight subtypes of mGluR has not only opened up new avenues for exploration of the central actions of this excitatory neurotransmitter but also expanded the potential to target drugs against specific receptor-mediated actions (1-3). Recently, novel synthetic glutamate analogues have been developed as ligands at different mGluRs, and of particular significance has been the development of competitive antagonists (4 -7) and their use in identifying the involvement and roles of different mGluR subtypes in fundamental mechanisms such as long term potentiation and long term depression (8 -12).The mGluRs form a distinct branch of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily, sharing topological organization but little sequence homology with other G protein-coupled receptors. Sequence homology and pharmacological profiling have allowed three subgroups of mGluRs, termed I, II, and III, to be described (2, 3). Group II mGluRs (types 2 and 3) and group III MGluRs (types 4, 6, 7 and 8) both couple to G proteins of the G i/o family to inhibit adenylyl cyclase or modulate ion channel activities (2, 3); in contrast, group I mGluRs (types 1 and 5) activate PIC with the subsequent generation of the second messengers Ins(1,4,5)P 3 and diacylglycerol (2, 3, 13-17). The G protein or proteins responsible for coupling group I mGluRs to PIC have been the subject of some debate. Thus, although the phosphoinositide responses elicited by agonist stimulation of mGluR5 and the mGluR1 splice variant seem to be little affected by PTX treatment (14,15), the response to mGluR1␣ activation is substantially