Pharmacological and biochemical properties of insect GABA receptors

The first evidence for the existence of GABA receptors in any tissue was provided by studies on an invertebrate preparation but, until recently, characterization of GABA receptors from such lower organisms has advanced slowly. The identification of GABA receptors as putative target sites for a variety of insecticidal agents has contributed to the resurgence of interest in amino acid receptors of insects and other invertebrates. In this review, James Rauh and colleagues describe the properties of GABA receptors of insects and detail some striking pharmacological differences between the well-characterized GABA receptors of vertebrates and those of insects and other invertebrate organisms. A detailed understanding of invertebrate receptor pharmacology will be increasingly important for defining the mode of action of numerous modern pesticides.