Effects of amino acids and convulsants on spontaneous action potentials in cerebellar cortex slices.

1 Picrotoxin selectively and reversibly suppressed the inhibitory action of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), but not that of glycine, taurine or beta-alanine, on the frequency of spontaneous spike discharges in guinea-pig cerebellar slices. Strychnine reversibly suppressed the inhibitory action of glycine, taurine or beta-alanine but had no effect on that of GABA. 2 GABA, glycine, taurine and beta-alanine showed an early excitatory effect that was unaffected by picrotoxin or strychnine. 3 Studies of the dose-response relations indicated a competition between the amino acid and the convulsant at a common receptor site. 4 Kinetic analyses of the dose-response relations for the amino acids in the presence or absence of picrotoxin or strychnine indicated that the number of molecules of amino acid combining with the receptor site in order to produce a response (inhibition or excitation) was 3 for GABA, 2 for glycine, 3 for taurine and 4 for beta-alanine. There appeared to be no evidence that the response was due to the cooperativity between the amino acid receptor complexes. The number of molecules of convulsant that combined with the receptor site was 1 for either strychnine or picrotoxin. 5 Mixtures of glycine with taurine or beta-alanine, in contrast to those with GABA, appeared not to give additive inhibitory effects.