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J Psychiatry Neurosci. 1994 January; 19(1): 24–29. | PMCID: PMC1188559 |
Pharmacology of benzodiazepine receptors: an update. W Sieghart Department of Biochemical Psychiatry, University Clinic for Psychiatry, Vienna, Austria. Abstract Benzodiazepine receptors are allosteric modulatory sites on GABAA receptors. GABAA receptors are probably composed of five protein subunits, at least some of which belong to different subunit classes. So far six alpha-, four beta-, three gamma-, and delta- and two rho = p subunits of GABAA receptors have been identified. A large number of different subunit combinations, each of which will result in a GABAA receptor with distinct electrophysiological and pharmacological properties, are therefore possible. Many compounds from different chemical classes which are able to bind to benzodiazepine receptors have been identified. Depending on their individual efficacy, binding of these compounds either enhances, reduces or does not influence GABAergic transmission. However, the individual efficacy of the benzodiazepine receptor ligands changes with the subunit composition of the GABAA receptor. The investigation of the regional distribution, subunit composition and pharmacology of GABAA receptors will result in the development of new and more selective compounds for psychiatry. Full text Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Get a printable copy (PDF file) of the complete article (1.0M), or click on a page image below to browse page by page. Links to PubMed are also available for Selected References. These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article. - Benke D, Mertens S, Trzeciak A, Gillessen D, Mohler H. Identification and immunohistochemical mapping of GABAA receptor subtypes containing the delta-subunit in rat brain. FEBS Lett. 1991 May 20;283(1):145–149. [PubMed]
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