AUTHOR=XU Chanjuan , Zhang Wenhua , Rondard Philippe , Pin Jean-philippe , Liu Jianfeng 

TITLE=Complex GABAB receptor complexes: how to generate multiple functionally distinct units from a single receptor

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2014.00012

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2014.00012

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>The main inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA, acts on both ligand-gated and G protein-coupled receptors, the GABA<sub>A/C</sub> and GABA<sub>B</sub> receptors, respectively. The later play important roles in modulating many synapses, both at the pre- and post-synaptic levels, and are then still considered as interesting targets to treat a number of brain diseases, including addiction. For many years, several subtypes of GABA<sub>B</sub> receptors were expected, but cloning revealed only two genes that work in concert to generate a single type of GABA<sub>B</sub> receptor composed of two subunits. Here we will show that the signaling complexity of this unit receptor type can be largely increased through various ways, including receptor stoichiometry, subunit isoforms, cell-surface expression and localization, crosstalk with other receptors, or interacting proteins. These recent data revealed how complexity of a receptor unit can be increased, observation that certainly are not unique to the GABA<sub>B</sub> receptor.</p>