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GABA Transporters

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Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules
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Synonyms

Betaine/GABA transporter-1 (BGT-1); GAT-1; GAT-2; GAT-3

Introduction

There are two nomenclatures for GABA transporters (GATs). In the rat/human nomenclature, GABA transporters are called GAT-1, betaine/GABA transporter-1 (BGT-1), GAT-2, and GAT-3 (Borden et al. 1992). In the mouse nomenclature, GATs are called GAT1, GAT2, GAT3, and GAT4 (without hyphen, Liu et al. 1993). They were encoded by the genes SLC6A1 (for GAT-1) and SLC6A11–13 (for GAT-3, BGT-1, and GAT-2, respectively). In this review, the rat/human nomenclature will be used.

Historical Background

The amino acid γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the adult brain. The actions of GABA are mediated via two distinct classes of receptors: ionotropic (GABAA and GABAc) and metabotropic (GABAB) receptors (Farrant and Kaila 2007). For adequate synaptic transmission, the released GABA has to be rapidly sequestered from the synaptic cleft by high affinity GABA transporters. Experiments...

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Correspondence to Sergei Kirischuk .

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Kirischuk, S., Kilb, W. (2018). GABA Transporters. In: Choi, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67199-4_329

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