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Summary: SPECIAL ISSUE
REVIEW
Glycine receptors: recent insights into their
structural organization and functional diversity
Heinrich Betz and Bodo Laube
Abteilung Neurochemie, Max-Planck-Institut fu¨r Hirnforschung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Abstract
Strychnine-sensitive glycine receptors (GlyRs) are known to
mediate synaptic inhibition in spinal cord, brainstem and other
regions of the CNS. During the past 5 years, considerable
progress has been made in delineating structural determi-
nants of ligand binding and channel activation in recombinant
GlyRs. Furthermore, immunohistochemical and gene inacti-
vation studies have disclosed distinct distributions and func-
tions of differentially expressed GlyR subtypes in retina,
hippocampus and the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Accord-
ingly, GlyRs regulate not only the excitability of motor and
sensory neurones, but are also essential for the processing of
photoreceptor signals, neuronal development and inflamma-
tory pain sensitization. Hence, these receptors constitute
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