Photochemical Proteolysis of an Unstructured Linker of the GABAAR Extracellular Domain Prevents GABA but Not Pentobarbital Activation

The GABA type A receptor (GABAAR) is the major inhibitory receptor in the mammalian central nervous system and the target of numerous pharmaceuticals. The α-subunit of these pentameric Cys-loop neurotransmitter-gated ion channels contributes to the binding of both GABA and allosteric modulators such as the benzodiazepines, suggesting a role for this subunit in the conformational changes associated with activation of the receptor. Herein we use the nonsense suppression methodology to incorporate a photoactivatable unnatural amino acid and photochemically cleave the backbone of the α subunit of the α_1β_2 GABA_AR in a linker region that is believed to span the subunit. Proteolytic cleavage impairs GABA but not pentobarbital activation, strongly suggesting that conformational changes involving this linker region are critical to the GABA activation pathway.