GABA A Receptor alpha 6 Antibody

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, causing a hyperpolarization of the membrane through the opening of a Cl- channel associated with the GABAA-Receptor (GABAA-R) subtype. GABAA-Rs are important therapeutic targets for a range of sedative, anxiolytic, and hypnotic agents and are implicated in several diseases including epilepsy, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. The GABAA-R is a multimeric subunit complex. To date six alphas, four betas and four gammas, plus alternative splicing variants of some of these subunits, have been identified. Injection in oocytes or mammalian cell lines of cRNA coding for alpha and beta subunits results in the expression of functional GABAA-Rs sensitive to GABA. However, coexpression of a gamma subunit is required for benzodiazepine modulation. The various effects of the benzodiazepines in brain may also be mediated via different alpha subunits of the receptor. Lastly, phosphorylation of beta subunits of the receptor has been shown to modulate GABAA-R function.

GABAA Receptor antibody recognizes 57k band in Western blots of rat brain. Peptide antigen has no homology with any other GABAA-R subunit. Applications include Dot Blots (DB) and Western Blots (WB) . Human, mouse, and rat have 100% amino acid sequence identity with the antigen used to raise the antibody. When internally tested under ideal conditions the working dilutions were 1:1000 for DB and WB.

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Whiting, P.J., McKernan, R.M., Wafford, K.A. "Structure and pharmacology of vertebrate, GABAA receptor subtypes." In: International Review of Neurobiology (Bradley, R.J., Harris R.A., eds.), pp 95. San Diego: Academic Press (1995) .

Pritchett, D.B., Sontheimer, H., Shivers, B.D., Yner, S., Kettenman, H., Schofield, P.R., Seeburg, P.H. "Importance of a novel GABAA receptor subunit for benzodiazepine pharmacology, " Nature (London) 338 (1989) 582 - 585.