1. Single-channel kinetics of steroid enhancement of single gamma-aminobutyric acidA (GABA) receptor currents obtained from somata of mouse spinal cord neurones in culture were investigated using the excised outside-out patch-clamp recording technique. GABA (2 microM) and GABA (2 microM) plus androsterone (5 alpha-androstan-3 alpha-ol-17-one, AND, 10 nM-10 microM) or pregnanolone (5 beta-pregna...

Progesterone (P4) inhibits small granulosa cell (GC) mitosis and large GC apoptosis. These actions are steroid specific and dose dependent and are inhibited by the progesterone receptor (PR) antagonist, RU-486. However, these cells do not express the nuclear PR but rather an ill-defined P4-binding protein (P4BP). This binding protein could function as a receptor and mediate P4's actions in GCs....

Introduction Epilepsy is a devastating chronic neurological disorder that affects about 0.8% of the population worldwide. The clinical hallmark of epilepsy is recurrent seizures, which consist of synchronised discharges of large groups of neurons. Several lines of evidence suggest that the hippocampal formation is critically involved in TLE. Firstly, recordings from intracerebrally implanted el...

Pseudo-nitzschia austrulis Frenguelli is a marine pennatc diatom associated with the production of domoic acida neurocxcitatory amino acid linked to illness and mortality of humans and wildlife, Distinguishing P. austrulis from its co-occurring congeners is labor intensive and time consuming because of a requirement for scanning electron microscopy. Hcrc, we apply large-subunit ribosomal RNA (L...

Aims: To examine the existing literature to determine the degree to which percutaneous absorption data obtained using the excised human skin model match those obtained from living man. Methods: The scientific literature was reviewed to collect data on compounds whose percutaneous absorption through human skin had been measured under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. The in vitro-in vivo (IV...

1. The kinetic properties of the main conductance state of gamma-aminobutyric acidA (GABA) receptor channels from somata of mouse spinal cord neurones in cell culture were investigated using patch clamp techniques. 2. Whole-cell GABA receptor currents increased in a concentration-dependent manner from 0.5 to 5 microM. 3. Single-channel currents were recorded with a main conductance state of 27....

Treatment with pentobarbital of primary cultured cerebellar granule cells decreased the gamma-aminobutyric acid, (GABA)A receptor subunit gamma-2 long/short (gamma-2L/S) mRNA ratio. A high dose of pentobarbital (500 microM) decreased the gamma-2L/S ratio by 64%; the decrease was dose and time dependent and reversible. (-)-Hexobarbital (500 microM), the less potent stereoisomer for GABA(A) recep...

Blockade of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) receptors in the anterior basolateral amygdala (BLA) with bicuculline methiodide results in an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and "anxiety" in rats. Glutamate receptors in the BLA are also reported to be involved in eliciting anxiety responses. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between GABAergic inhibition and glutam...

Previous work has demonstrated that in the hippocampal CA1 region of Sprague-Dawley rats, there are ethanol-sensitive and ethanol-insensitive populations of GABAergic synapses on pyramidal neurons. The present experiments characterized the ethanol sensitivity of these pathways in lines of rats and mice genetically selected for sensitivity or insensitivity to the behavioral effects of ethanol. I...

Chronic benzodiazepine treatment can produce tolerance and changes in g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptors. To study the effect of treatment on a selected population of receptors, assays were performed using [H]RY-80, which is selective for GABAA receptors with an a5 subunit. Rats were given a flurazepam treatment known to produce tolerance and down-regulation of benzodiazepine binding, or a d...