Traumatic brain injury is a major cause of death and disability worldwide and often associated with post-traumatic epilepsy. We recently demonstrated that TBI induces acquired GABAA receptors channelopathy that associates with hyperexcitability in granule cell layer (GCL). We now assessed the expression of GABAA and GABAB receptor subunit mRNAs between 6 h and 6 months post-TBI in the hippocamp...

Zarnowska ED, Keist R, Rudolph U, Pearce RA. GABAA receptor 5 subunits contribute to GABAA,slow synaptic inhibition in mouse hippocampus. J Neurophysiol 101: 1179–1191, 2009. First published December 10, 2008; doi:10.1152/jn.91203.2008. -Aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor 5 subunits, which are heavily expressed in the hippocampus, are potential drug targets for improving cognitive functi...

The dopamine D3 receptor, which is highly enriched in nucleus accumbens (NAc), has been suggested to play an important role in reinforcement and reward. To understand the potential cellular mechanism underlying D3 receptor functions, we examined the effect of D3 receptor activation on GABAA receptor (GABAAR)-mediated current and inhibitory synaptic transmission in medium spiny neurons of NAc. A...

We identified a de novo missense mutation, P302L, in the γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor γ2 subunit gene GABRG2 in a patient with Dravet syndrome using targeted next-generation sequencing. The mutation was in the cytoplasmic portion of the transmembrane segment M2 of the γ2 subunit that faces the pore lumen. GABAA receptor α1 and β3 subunits were coexpressed with wild-type (wt) γ2L ...

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons are the central regulators of reproduction. GABAergic transmission plays a critical role in pubertal activation of pulsatile GnRH secretion. Self-administration of excessive doses of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) disrupts reproductive function and may have critical repercussions for pubertal onset in adolescent users. Here, we demonstrate that ...

BACKGROUND Volatile anesthetics act primarily through upregulating the activity of γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors. They also exhibit antiinflammatory actions in the lung. Rodent alveolar type II (ATII) epithelial cells express GABAA receptors and the inflammatory factor cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). The goal of this study was to determine whether human ATII cells also express GABAA re...

Classical benzodiazepine drugs are in wide clinical use as anxiolytics, hypnotics, anticonvulsants, and muscle relaxants. They act by enhancing the -aminobutyric acidA (GABAA) receptor function in the central nervous system. The pharmacological relevance of the multitude of structurally diverse GABAA receptor subtypes has only recently been identified. Based on an in vivo point mutation strateg...

The GABAA receptor 2 subunit mutation R43Q is an autosomal dominant mutation associated with childhood absence epilepsy and febrile seizures. Previously, we demonstrated that homozygous 1 3 2L(R43Q) receptor whole-cell currents had reduced amplitude with unaltered time course, suggesting reduced cell surface expression of functional receptors. In human embryonic kidney 293-T cells, we demonstra...

20 The terminal nerve (TN)-gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons have been 21 suggested to function as a neuromodulatory system that regulates the motivational and 22 arousal state of the animal and have served as a model system for the study of GnRH 23 neuron physiology. To investigate the synaptic control of the TN-GnRH neurons, we 24 analyzed electrophysiologically the effect of GABA...

Domestic Mongolian gerbils, a model of inherited epilepsy, begin having spontaneous seizures at ~1.5 months of age, making it possible to evaluate them during epileptic and pre-epileptic stages. Previous studies have shown that GABA-binding is reduced in the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) of both epileptic and pre-epileptic gerbils compared with controls, suggesting that reduced express...