GABA是哺乳动物脑中的主要抑制性神经递质，它在GABA-a受体上起作用，GABA-a受体是配体门控氯离子通道。这些通道的氯离子传导可以由与GABA A受体结合的苯二氮卓类药物调节。已经鉴定出至少16个不同的GABA A受体亚基。另外，已经发现该基因编码不同亚型的剪接转录变体[ RefSeq，2013月11日]
GABA is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain where it acts at GABA-A receptors, which are ligand-gated chloride channels. Chloride conductance of these channels can be modulated by agents such as benzodiazepines that bind to the GABA-A receptor. At least 16 distinct subunits of GABA-A receptors have been identified. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Nov 2013]