Identification, cloning and analysis of expression of a new alternatively spliced form of the metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR1 mRNA1.

We have applied quantitative RT-PCR analysis to characterise relative levels of expression of the alternatively spliced mGluR1 mRNAs. This has also allowed us to identify and clone a new alternatively spliced form of the mGluR1 mRNA. The newly identified mGluR1f mRNA is expressed at moderate levels in rat brain, reaching its maximum in cortex. mGluR1f differs from the mGluR1a mRNA by deletion of a 35-bp fragment of the mGluR1a/alpha coding sequence and insertion of an 85-bp fragment, found only in mGluR1b/beta mRNA.