C. Ratomponirina et al., GAMMA-HYDROXYBUTYRATE RECEPTOR-BINDING IN RAT-BRAIN IS INHIBITED BY GUANYL NUCLEOTIDES AND PERTUSSIS TOXIN, Neuroscience letters, 189(1), 1995, pp. 51-53
gamma-Hydroxybutyrate is an endogenous substance of mammalian brain wh
ich is primarily derived from GABA. This compound exhibits neuromodula
tory influences on dopamine and serotonin synthesis and release in rat
brain. These effects are mediated by specific brain receptors which a
re mainly distributed in the hippocampus, cortex and striatum. In orde
r to characterize this type of receptor, we have studied the possibili
ty that guanosine triphosphate (GTP) and/or pertussis toxin mediated m
odification of the affinity for gamma-hydroxybutyrate binding to the r
eceptor. Results presented in this paper favor the presence of guanine
nucleotide binding proteins (G(o) or G(i) family), which are coupled
to the gamma-hydroxybutyrate receptor, modifying the high-affinity gam
ma-hydroxybutyrate binding. We conclude that the gamma-hydroxybutyrate
receptor in brain belongs to the G-protein family of receptors.