Heterogeneity of GABAA-receptors: cell-specific expression, pharmacology, and regulation.

Vigilance, anxiety, memory, epileptogenic activity and muscle tension can be regulated by a modulation of GABAA-receptor function. A multitude of different GABAA-receptors exist in the brain due to the combinational assembly of various subunits encoded by at least 15 genes. The clarification of the physiological and pharmacological significance of GABAA-receptor subtypes, in combination with their cellular localization, will make it possible to identify the neuronal circuits regulating the respective CNS states and to provide strategies for the development of subtype-specific drugs for selective therapies.