Edinburgh Napier University

  Synaptic inhibition in the vertebrate central nervous system is mediated predominantly by subtypes of the GABAAreceptor, which comprise different pentameric combinations of the products of 13 genes. In this article, we review the results of recent experiments that are helping to define binding-site determinants, on GABAAreceptors, for various ligands and some clinically-important modulators. New and sometimes conflicting data, on the polypeptide compositions of native subtypes, will also be discussed. Studies such as those described here should ultimately lead to a molecular understanding of receptor–ligand interactions, and the biological basis for the large number of subtypes that appear to exist in brain