There is increasing evidence that GABAC receptors are composed of GABA ρ subunits. In this study, we compared the properties of native GABAC receptors with those of receptors composed of a GABA ρ subunit. A homologue of the GABA ρ gene was cloned from a white perch (Roccus americana) retinal cDNA library. The clone (perch-s) has an open reading frame of 1422 nucleotide base pairs and encodes a predicted protein of 473 amino acids. It is highly homologous to GABA ρ subunits cloned from human and rat retinas. The receptors (perch-s receptor) expressed by this gene in Xenopus oocytes show properties similar to those of the GABAC receptors present on white perch retinal neurons. GABA induced a sustained response that had a reversal potential of –27.1 +minus; 3.6 mV. The EC50 for the response was 1.74 +− 1.25 μM, a value similar to that reported for GABAC receptors. Pharmacologically, the responses were bicuculline insensitive and not modulated by either diazepam or pentobarbital as is the case for GABAc receptors. There were, however, some distinct differences between native GABAc and perch-s receptors. I4AA acts as a partial agonist on perch-s receptors whereas it is strictly an antagonist on native GABAC receptors. Picrotoxin inhibition is noncompetitive on perch-s receptors, but both competitive and noncompetitive on GABAC receptors. We conclude that GABAC receptors are formed by GABA p subunits but that native GABAc receptors probably consist of a mixture of GABA ρ subunits.

High levels of endogenous cholecystokinin (CCK) are present in the rat retina (Eskay & Beinfeld, 1982), but the cellular localization and physiological actions of CCK in the rat retina are uncertain. The goals of this study were to characterize the cells containing CCK, identify cell types that interact with CCK cells, and investigate the effects of CCK on rod bipolar cells. Rat retinas were labeled with antibody to gastrin-CCK (gCCK) using standard immunofluorescence techniques. Patch-clamp methods were used to record from dissociated rod bipolar cells from rats and mice. Gastrin-CCK immunoreactive (-IR) axons were evenly distributed throughout the retina in stratum 5 of the inner plexiform layer of the rat retina. However, the gCCK-IR somata were only detected in the ganglion cell layer in the peripheral retina. The gCCK-IR cells contained glutamate decarboxylase, and some of them also contained immunoreactive substance P. Labeled axons contacted PKC-IR rod bipolar cells, and recoverin-IR ON-cone bipolar cells. CCK-octapeptide inhibits GABAC but not GABAA mediated currents in dissociated rod bipolar cells.

GABAergic responses of rabbit rod bipolar cells were reexamined by using whole-cell recordings in the superfused slice preparation to determine if there is GABAC receptor input to their axon terminal and to characterize the contribution that GABAA and GABAC receptors make to the total GABA current on the axon terminals of these cells. Pharmacological agents specifically blocking GABAA and GABAC receptor currents demonstrated that 37% of the GABA-activated current was blocked by either the GABAA antagonists bicuculline or SR-95531, whereas the remaining 63% of the GABA current was blocked by a mixture of bicuculline and the GABAC antagonist TPMPA. This indicated that GABAC receptors were present on the axon terminal of the rabbit rod bipolar cell and that they were responsible for mediating the bicuculline insensitive GABA current.