GABAB receptor

GABA_B receptors (GABA_BR) are G-protein coupled receptors for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), therefore making them metabotropic receptors, that are linked via G-proteins to potassium channels.^[1] The changing potassium concentrations hyperpolarize the cell at the end of an action potential. The reversal potential of the GABA_B-mediated IPSP (inhibitory postsynaptic potential) is −100 mV, which is much more hyperpolarized than the GABA_A IPSP. GABA_B receptors are found in the central nervous system and the autonomic division of the peripheral nervous system.^[2]

The receptors were first named in 1981 when their distribution in the CNS was determined, which was determined by Norman Bowery and his team using radioactively labelled baclofen.^[3]