Abstract

A number of investigators have shown that gamma-butyrolactones bind to the picrotoxin site on the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor. We examined the effects of three fluorinated gamma-butyrolactone derivatives on GABA currents and synaptic currents in cultured hippocampal neurons. alpha-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-alpha-methyl-gamma-butyrolactone was a partial picrotoxin agonist, meaning that like picrotoxin, it blocked GABA currents, but not completely. This action is in marked contrast to that of its parent compound, alpha-ethyl-alpha-methyl-gamma-butyrolactone, which is a mixed inverse agonist/antagonist, enhancing GABA currents at low GABA concentration (less than or equal to 1 microM) and antagonizing picrotoxin block of GABA currents at higher GABA concentrations (approximately 30 microM). The properties of two difluorinated derivatives were found to be very different from the trifluorinated compound. Both alpha-(1,1-difluoroethyl)-alpha-methyl-gamma-butyrolactone and alpha-(1,1-difluoroethyl)-alpha-methyl-gamma-thiobutyrolactone+ ++ dramatically increased the current produced by low concentrations of GABA. The former had less marked inverse agonist effects at higher GABA concentrations but behaved instead like a picrotoxin antagonist. In addition, alpha-(1,1-difluoroethyl)-alpha-methyl-gamma-butyrolactone reduced both excitatory and inhibitory synaptic currents suggesting a separate effect on presynaptic transmitter release through an unknown mechanism. These experiments support the hypothesis that gamma-butyrolactones can have a variety of effects at the picrotoxin receptor and indicate that specific properties of these compounds can be altered drastically by fluorination.