Gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptor function is inhibited by microtubule depolymerization.

Microtubules are present at postsynaptic densities in brain and are proposed to be involved in anchoring neurotransmitter receptor clusters at postsynaptic membranes. However, the influence of microtubules on gamma-aminobutyric acidA (GABAA) receptors has not been studied. Microtubule-affecting agents were tested for their actions on GABAA receptor function, by measuring muscimol-stimulated chloride uptake into cerebral cortical microsacs and proteoliposomes and GABA-mediated currents in Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing GABAA receptors. Colchicine, nocodazole, vinblastine, and taxol inhibited muscimol-stimulated chloride uptake. beta- and gamma-lumicolchicine did not inhibit GABAA ergic function. Colchicine decreased the potency of muscimol, a GABA agonist, to stimulate chloride uptake without affecting the specific binding of [3H]flunitrazepam or t-[35S]butylbicyclophosphorothionate to the GABAA receptor, or the allosteric modulation of binding of these ligands by muscimol. The function of purified GABAA receptors reconstituted in proteoliposomes, a preparation not containing microtubule components, was not affected by colchicine. In contrast to the results seen in human monocytes by other investigators, we found that colchicine decreased, rather than increased, protein kinase A activity in cortical microsacs. Thus, protein kinase A modulation of the GABAA receptor is not a likely mechanism for the actions of colchicine. We propose that microtubule-depolymerizing agents inhibit GABAA ergic function by disrupting the interaction of GABAA receptors with microtubules.

beta-Lumicolchicine interacts with the benzodiazepine binding site to potentiate GABAA receptor-mediated currents.

An analogue of colchicine, beta-lumicolchicine, does not bind tubulin or disrupt microtubules. However, this compound is not pharmacologically completely inactive. beta-Lumicolchicine was found to competitively inhibit [3H]flunitrazepam binding and to enhance muscimol-stimulated 36Cl- uptake in mouse cerebral cortical microsacs. It also markedly potentiated GABA responses in Xenopus oocytes expressing human alpha 1 beta 2 gamma 2S, but not alpha 1 beta 2, GABAA receptor subunits; this potentiation was reversed by the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil. These results strongly suggest a direct effect of beta-lumicolchicine on the GABAA receptor/chloride channel complex and caution that it possesses pharmacological effects, despite its inability to disrupt microtubules. Furthermore, beta-lumicolchicine is structurally unrelated to benzodiazepines or quinolines and may provide a novel approach to the synthesis of ligands for this receptor.