Brain function is based on an exquisite balance between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission. GABAergic neurons provide the major inhibitory control. By controlling spike timing and sculpting neuronal rhythms they play a key role in regulating behavior. GABAergic neurons are highly diverse and operate with a corresponding diversity of GABAA receptor subtypes. In this article, the contrib...

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a key reactive oxygen species, is produced at low levels during normal cellular metabolism and at higher concentrations under pathological conditions such as ischemia-reperfusion injury. The mechanisms by which H2O2 contributes to physiological and pathological processes in the brain remain poorly understood. Inhibitory GABA type A (GABAA) receptors critically regulate...

Ethanol exposure produces alterations in GABAergic signaling that are associated with dependence and withdrawal. Previously, we demonstrated that ethanol-induced protein kinase C (PKC) γ signaling selectively contributes to changes in GABAA α1 synaptic receptor activity and surface expression. Here, we demonstrate that protein kinase A (PKA) exerts opposing effects on GABAA receptor adaptations...

The actions of 2,2,2,-trichloroethanol were studied on agonist-activated Cl- currents in gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA), glycine and GABA rho 1 receptors by use of the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Recombinant wild-type and mutant receptor subunits were transiently expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. Trichloroethanol enhanced currents elicited by submaximal (EC20) a...

GABAA receptors are the major inhibitory transmitter receptors in the central nervous system. They are chloride ion channels that can be opened by g-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and are the targets of action of a variety of pharmacologically and clinically important drugs. GABAA receptors are composed of five subunits that can belong to different subunit classes. The existence of 19 different subun...

The role of GABAA and GABAB receptors in modulation of excitatory synaptic transmission between motoneurons and terminals from dorsolateral funiculus (DLF) was studied in in vitro spinal cord slices of adult turtles. Muscimol--a GABAA receptor agonist--depressed the monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) induced by stimulation of the DLF and shortened its duration. The input resi...

Introduction: Estradiol is a neuroactive steroid, which is found in several brain areas such as locus coeruleus (LC). Estradiol modulates nociception by binding to its receptors and also by allosteric interaction with other membranebound receptors like glutamate and GABAA receptors. LC is involved in noradrenergic descending pain modulation. Methods: In order to study the effect of 17β-estradio...

Propofol is a widely used intravenous general anesthetic. Propofol-induced unconsciousness in humans is associated with inhibition of thalamic activity evoked by somatosensory stimuli. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying the effects of propofol in thalamic circuits are largely unknown. We investigated the influence of propofol on synaptic responsiveness of thalamocortical relay neurons ...

GABAA receptor-mediated Cl- currents in rat thalamic reticular and relay neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 2280-2286, 1997. Spontaneous and evoked inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs and eIPSCs) and responses to exogenously applied gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), mediated by GABA type A (GABAA) receptors, were recorded in inhibitory neurons of nucleus reticularis thalami (nRt) and their target...

Whereas GABA is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the adult central nervous system, recent experiments performed in our laboratory have shown that the activation of GABAA receptors in the hippocampus leads to excitatory effects during the early post-natal period. The possible consequence of a depolarizing effect of GABA was assessed on the neuritic outgrowth of embryonic hippocampal neuron...