Chimeric receptors and methods for identifying compounds active at metabotropic glutamate receptors and the use of such compounds in the treatment of neurological disorders and diseases

A method of screening for a compound that binds to or modulates a metabotropic glutamate receptor or a calcium receptor, comprising the steps of:

• a. preparing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a fragment of a receptor,
• b. inserting said sequence into a replicable expression vector capable of expressing said fragment in a host cell,
• c. transforming a host cell with the vector of (b),
• d. introducing said transformed host cell and said compound into an acceptable medium, and
• e. monitoring the effect of said compound on said host cell.

A method of screening for a compound that binds to or modulates a receptor, comprising the steps of:

• a. preparing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a first fragment comprising a fragment of a first receptor,
• b. inserting the sequence into a replicable expression vector capable of expressing said first fragment in a host cell,
• c. transforming a host cell with the vector of (b),
• d. recovering the first fragment from the host cell,
• e. preparing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a second fragment comprising a fragment of a second receptor,
• f. inserting the sequence of (e) into a replicable expression vector capable of expressing said second fragment in a host cell,
• g. transforming a host cell with the vector of (f),
• h. recovering the second fragment from the host cell of (g), and
• i. introducing said first fragment and said second fragment and said compound into an acceptable medium, and
• j. monitoring the binding and/or modulation of the compound by physically detectable means.