title: The α1,α2, and α3Subunits of GABAAReceptors: Comparison in Seizure-Prone and -Resistant Mice and during Development.
abstract: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in brain, opens chloride channels through actions on GABAAreceptors. We now report base and amino acid sequences of the α1, α2, and α3subunits from GABAAreceptors of audiogenic seizure-prone (DBA/2J) and -resistant (C57BL/6J) inbred strains of mice. Inbreeding had fixed different alleles of the α1subunit in the two strains, giving five base differences in the cDNAs. None of these affected amino acid sequence, but one did create a NsiI restriction site potentially useful in mapping genomic DNA. No base or amino acid sequence differences between the strains were detected for the other two subunits. Northern blots revealed no apparent strain differences in message levels for these three subunits in whole brains of the mice at 3 weeks of age, the peak of seizure susceptibility in DBA/2J, but did reveal distinct regional and developmental patterns of expression among the subunits in mouse brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Jia Bei
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kofuji
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
authors.forename: John C R
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fernando
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe St., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Huganir
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Burt