, 2002). Among different γ2-containing GABAARs the α5βγ2 receptors are unique in that they are localized mostly extrasynaptically, as mentioned earlier. NSC 683864 concentration Interestingly, even extrasynaptic α5βγ2 receptors are clustered at the plasma membrane (Christie

and de Blas, 2002) (Figure 5B). Loebrich et al. (2006) have identified radixin as a α5 subunit-interacting protein that is essential for extrasynaptic clustering of α5βγ2 receptors. Radixin is a member of the ERM (ezrin, radixin, moesin) family of proteins, which are known to link transmembrane proteins to the actin cytoskeleton. Transfection of neurons with a dominant-negative radixin construct abolishes the clustering of α5-containing receptors but does not affect GABAAR surface expression nor GABAergic tonic and phasic currents (Loebrich et al., SRT1720 2006). The data suggest that radixin-independent

mechanisms prevent α5-containing receptors from accumulation at synapses. The functional relevance of α5βγ2 receptor clustering in the extrasynaptic membrane is not known. Postsynaptic GABAAR clusters represent diffusional confinement areas containing laterally mobile GABAARs stabilized by gephyrin. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) was used to compare the mobility of fluorescently tagged GABAARs at postsynaptic and extrasynaptic plasma membrane sites (Jacob et al., 2005). These experiments revealed significantly greater fluorescence recovery rates at extrasynaptic than postsynaptic membrane domains, thereby indicating greater mobility of extrasynaptic than postsynaptic GABAARs (Figure 5B).

Moreover, the fluorescence recovery rate at the periphery of the photobleached area was greater than that at the center, consistent with replenishment of GABAARs from within the plane of the plasma membrane, rather than by insertion into the plasma membrane from intracellular receptor pools. To assess the role of gephyrin in modulating lateral diffusion, FRAP experiments were combined with RNAi knockdown of gephyrin, a treatment that effectively reduced the aminophylline expression of gephyrin but did not affect the accumulation of GABAARs at the plasma membrane. Interestingly, postsynaptic GABAARs of gephyrin-RNAi-treated neurons showed significantly greater FRAP recovery rates than control neurons, indicating that the mobility of GABAARs at postsynaptic sites is restrained by direct or indirect interactions with gephyrin (Jacob et al., 2005). An independent study relied on an ingenious method to mutate and functionally tag GABAARs such that they are permanently inactivated by an inhibitor after receptor activation by GABA (Thomas et al., 2005).