Expression of functional GABA, glycine and glutamate receptors in Xenopus oocytes injected with rat brain mRNA.

The use of Gurdon's Xenopus oocyte translation system has allowed the production of neurotransmitter receptors in a foreign cell membrane, following the translation of microinjected mRNA isolated from various sources. This very accessible and relatively simple preparation permits the study of the requirements for receptor-ionophore function, assembly and membrane integration. This analysis is presently feasible for the peripheral nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, the chick brain gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA) receptor and the rat brain serotonin receptor. We now report the novel and successful expression of the GABA, glycine, glutamate and related acidic amino acid receptors of mammalian brain, and show that they exhibit pharmacologically separate identities when their mRNAs are processed in the amphibian oocyte.