Isolation of type I and type II GABAA-benzodiazepine receptors by immunoaffinity chromatography.

Anti-peptide alpha 1 (1-9) and anti-peptide alpha 3 (459-467) antibodies coupled to Affigel-10 were used for the isolation of GABAA receptors containing the alpha 1- or alpha 3-subunit, respectively. Both types of GABAA receptors exhibited a high affinity for [3H]flunitrazepam, and binding of [3H]flunitrazepam was stimulated in the presence of GABA. GABAA receptors eluted from the anti-peptide alpha 1 (1-9) immunoaffinity column exhibited a high affinity and those from the anti-peptide alpha 3 (459-467) columns a low affinity for the type I benzodiazepine receptor-selective ligand Cl 218872, indicating the enrichment of type I and type II GABAA-benzodiazepine receptors, respectively.