RESUMEN
In this work, we cloned and functionally expressed two novel GABAA receptor subunits from Procambarus clarkii crayfish. These two new subunits, PcGABAA-α and PcGABAA-ß2, revealed significant sequence homology with the PcGABAA-ß subunit, previously identified in our laboratory. In addition, PcGABAA-α subunit also shared a significant degree of identity with the Drosophila melanogaster genes DmGRD (GABA and glycine-like receptor subunits of Drosophila) as well as PcGABAA-ß2 subunit with DmLCCH3 (ligand-gated chloride channel homolog 3). Electrophysiological recordings showed that the expression in HEK cells of the novel subunits, either alone or in combination, failed to form functional homo- or heteromeric receptors. However, the co-expression of PcGABAA-α with PcGABAA-ß evoked sodium- or chloride-dependent currents that accurately reproduced the time course of the GABA-evoked currents in the X-organ neurons from crayfish, suggesting that these GABA subunits combine to form two types of GABA receptors, one with cationic selectivity filter and the other preferentially permeates anions. On the other hand, PcGABAA-ß2 and PcGABAA-ß co-expression generated a chloride current that does not show desensitization. Muscimol reproduced the time course of GABA-evoked currents in all functional receptors, and picrotoxin blocked these currents; bicuculline did not block any of the recorded currents. Reverse transcription polymerae chain reaction (RT-PCR) amplifications and FISH revealed that PcGABAA-α and PcGABAA-ß2 are predominantly expressed in the crayfish nervous system. Altogether, these findings provide the first evidence of a neural GABA-gated cationic channel in the crayfish, increasing our understanding of the role of these new GABAA receptor subunits in native heteromeric receptors.