2.A.22.3.2
γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA):Na⁺:Cl^- symporter, GAT-1 (Stoichiometry, GABA:Na⁺ = 1:2 where both Na⁺ binding sites, Na1 and Na2, have been identified. Na2 but not Na1 can accommodate Li⁺ (Zhou et al., 2006)). Cai et al. 2005 have reported that N-glycosylation increases the stability, trafficking and GABA-uptake of GABA transporter 1. Glutamine 291 is essential for Cl^- binding (Ben-Yona et al., 2011). Four human isoforms have been identified, GAT-1, GAT-2, GAT-3, and GAT-4, all about 70% identical to each other (Borden et al., 1992). GAT-2 transports γ-aminobutyric acid and β-alanine (Christiansen et al, 2007) It also concentratively takes up β-alanine and α-fluoro-β-alanine (Liu et al., 1999). GAT1 is capable of intracellular Na⁺-, Cl^-- and GABA-induced outward currents (reverse GABA transport; GABA efflux) (Bertram et al., 2011). An acidic amino acid residue in transmembrane helix 10 conserved in the Neurotransmitter:Sodium:Symporters is essential for the formation of the extracellular gate of GAT-1 (Ben-Yona and Kanner, 2012). It is required for stringent gating and tight coupling of ion- and substrate-fluxes in the GABA transporter family (Dayan et al. 2017). GAT-1 is the target of the antiepileptic drug, tiagabine (Kardos et al. 2010). The monomeric protein has been purified fused to GFP (Hu et al. 2017). The methodology involving the reconstitution of GABA, glycine and glutamate transporters has been described (Danbolt et al. 2021). Neurodevelopmental phenotypes have been associated with pathogenic variants of SLC6A1 (Kahen et al. 2021). 4-Phenylbutyrate restores GABA uptake and reduced seizures in SLC6A1 patient variants (Nwosu et al. 2022). The cryo-EM structure of full-length, wild-type human GAT1 in complex with its clinically used inhibitor, tiagabine, has appeared (Motiwala et al. 2022). Inhibition of GAT1 prolongs the GABAergic signaling at the synapse and is a strategy to treat certain forms of epilepsy. Nayak et al. 2023 presented the cryoEM structure of Rattus norvegicus GABA transporter 1 (rGAT1) at a resolution of 3.1 Å. The structure revealed rGAT1 in a cytosol-facing conformation, with a linear density in the primary binding site that accommodates a molecule of GABA, a displaced ion density proximal to Na site 1 and a bound chloride ion. A unique insertion in TM10 aids the formation of a compact, closed extracellular gate (Nayak et al. 2023). The molecular basis for substrate recognition and transport by human GABA transporter GAT1 has been determined (Zhu et al. 2023). These investigators reported four cryogenicEM structures of human GAT1 at resolutions of 2.2–3.2 Å. GAT1 in substrate-free form or in complex with the antiepileptic drug tiagabine exhibits an inward-open conformation. In the presence of GABA or nipecotic acid, inward-occluded structures are captured. The GABA-bound structure reveals an interaction network bridged by hydrogen bonds and ion coordination for GABA recognition. The substrate-free structure unwinds the last helical turn of transmembrane helix TM1a to release sodium ions and substrate (Zhu et al. 2023) who have identified associations between the 3D structure and variant pathogenicity, variant functions, and phenotypes in SLC6A1-related disorders.