Abstract
GABA (4-aminobutanoic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid) may be the most important inhibitory synaptic transmitter in mammalian brain. Although it possesses a relatively simple molecular structure, GABA appears to selectively activate a number of structurally specific receptors which are linked to a variety of sites that interact with certain classes of centrally active drugs such as barbiturates and benzodiazepines. GABA receptors may be part of complex domains consisting of specific binding sites for transmitters and modulators, channels for specific ions and associated gating apparatus, and enzyme complexes. The behaviour of GABA receptors is likely to be highly dependent on the local environment and this may explain many of the apparent differences between GABA receptor properties studied in situ by electrophysiological means and those studied in vitro by ligand binding techniques.
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© 1984 Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Johnston, G.A.R. et al. (1984). GABA receptors and related binding sites. In: Paton, W., Mitchell, J., Turner, P., Padgham, C., Ashcroft, E. (eds) IUPHAR 9th International Congress of Pharmacology London 1984. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17615-1_26
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17615-1_26
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