Abstract
This chapter will address the sensitivity of ligand-gated ion channels to ethanol and show that such ethanol sensitivity (or lack of sensitivity) is not invariable for any given neuron. In fact, bringing together several pieces of electrophysiological and pharmacological data leads us to put forward a hypothesis that the ethanol sensitivity of ligand- gated ion channels is regulated by ‘metabotropic’ systems defined in the generic sense: that is, by receptor-activated, G-protein-linked, non-ionotropic, energetic mechanisms. This hypothesis might provide an explanation for the variability of ethanol-transmitter interactions seen in various laboratories.
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Siggins, G.R., Nie, Z., Madamba, S.G. (1999). A Metabotropic Hypothesis for Ethanol Sensitivity of GABAergic and Glutamatergic Central Synapses. In: Liu, Y., Hunt, W.A. (eds) The “Drunken” Synapse. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4739-6_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4739-6_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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