Ethanol-GABAA receptor interactions: a comparison between cell lines and cerebellar Purkinje cells

This study compared the interaction between ethanol and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated current responses elicited in several immortalized cell lines and stably transfected cells, as well as in cultured and acutely dissociated rat cerebellar Purkinje cells. Only cell lines that were found previously to possess functional GABAA receptors were examined in this study. Under identical recording conditions, ethanol (10-200 mM) exerted no effect on GABA-induced currents in any of the cell lines or stably transfected cells tested in this study. However, GABA responses monitored in both primary culture and acutely dissociated Purkinje cells were significantly potentiated by ethanol (25 and 50 mM). Mouse pancreatic cells (RINm5F) were insensitive to both diazepam and ethanol suggesting the expression of a GABAA receptor isoform lacking a gamma subunit. Immortalized neuroblastoma IMR-32 cells displayed GABA responses that could be distinguished based on differential sensitivity to diazepam. However, none of the IMR-32 cells displayed GABA responses that were sensitive to modulation by ethanol. GABA responses in the stably transfected cell lines, PA3 (alpha1beta1gamma2L) and WSS-1 (alpha1beta2gamma2), were also unaffected by exposure to ethanol. In Purkinje cells acutely dissociated from the neonatal cerebellum, the ethanol-induced potentiation of GABA-induced current response could be observed before postnatal day 7, when only the gamma2S but not the gamma2L splice variant is expressed. This indicates that the gamma2L subunit is not necessary for an ethanol-induced potentiation of GABAA receptor-mediated response to become manifest. In addition, the results point to inherent differences that should be taken into account in interpreting comparative data between native and recombinant GABAA receptors.