Pharmacological properties of glycine (Gly)-induced Cl- current (ICl) in the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) neurons acutely dissociated from C57BL/6J mouse were investigated in the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Gly-induced ICl increased in a sigmoidal manner with higher Gly concentrations. Strychnine blocked the Gly response competitively at low and non-competitively at high concentrations. Both glutamate (Glu) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) responses were augmented by adding 10(-6) M Gly, at which concentration Gly did not induce any ICl. This facilitation was not affected by strychnine. Our results clearly show the existence of strychnine-sensitive and -insensitive glycine receptors in the DCN neurons.