Developmental lead exposure alters gene expression of metabotropic glutamate receptors in rat hippocampal neurons

Exposure to lead in utero and in infancy is associated with a risk of impaired cognitive development. Increasing evidence suggests that the family of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) plays an important role in synaptic plasticity and memory formation. We determined whether mGluRs subtypes 1, 3, and 7 (mGluR1, mGluR3, and mGluR7) were involved in developmental neurotoxicity due to lead. Embryonic rat hippocampal neurons were cultured for 21 days and exposed to lead chloride beginning on the fourth day of incubation. We investigated levels of mGluR1, mGluR3, and mGluR7 mRNA expression by using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with lead exposure at 10 nM, 1 μM, and 100 μM. Lead exposure in vitro downregulated the expression of mGluR1 mRNA and upregulated the expression of mGluR3 and mGluR7 mRNA in a dose-dependent manner. We speculate that mGluRs may be involved in lead neurotoxicity. Pathways that likely contribute to lead neurotoxicity by means of mGluRs are impairment of long-term potentiation, effects on N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor functions, and depotentiation.