Significance of GABA(A) receptor heterogeneity: clues from developing neurons

Briefly after the landmark discovery by Hanns Möhler that GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)R) are the site of action of benzodiazepine site ligands, their distribution in the rodent CNS during development was mapped by autoradiography, demonstrating early and widespread expression of GABA(A)R in the brain and spinal cord. Ten years later, the first studies using subunit-specific antibodies revealed unsuspected heterogeneity in the subunit composition of GABA(A)R in developing brain, with striking regional specificity and rapid changes in expression and subcellular localization correlating with the maturation of neuronal circuits. These data contributed to the wealth of evidence that GABAergic neurotransmission, acting both synaptically and extrasynaptically, modulates major steps of neuronal development (proliferation, migration, differentiation, and circuit formation). In immature neurons, GABA(A)R activation leads to neuronal depolarization and activation of Ca(2+) signals, which mediate many of the developmental effects of GABA. Therefore, GABA(A)R heterogeneity might be essential to fine-tune GABA actions in the dynamics of CNS maturation. Furthermore, since a disturbance of GABAergic function during ontogeny can potentially affect many aspects of CNS maturation and contribute to the etiology of major brain disorders, GABA(A)R heterogeneity provides a substrate for the development of a tailored pharmacology targeting specific receptor subtypes. This chapter provides a brief overview of these issues with a special focus on the seminal contributions of Hanns Möhler to the emergence of these concepts of fundamental relevance in today's neuroscience research and pharmacological developments.