Phylogenetic Study of Alpha Subunits of GABAA Receptor between Human and Rat

Neurons secreting gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, as their primary neurotransmitter are named GABAergic neurons. Phylogenetics based on sequence data provides more accurate descriptions of patterns of relatedness.
After alignment of mRNA complete gene sequences of alpha GABAA subunits in homosapiens and rattus norvegicus species, the phylogenetic tree were constructed with CLC Main Workbench 5.5 software.
The findings revealed 100 percent similarities between alpha 1, alpha 3, and alpha 6 subunits of GABAA receptor in homosapience and rattus norvegicus. Furthermore, the highest rate of divergences observed between alpha 1 subunit with alpha 3, alpha 4, alpha 5, and alpha 6 subunits in both species.
The highest similarities among alpha subunits of GABAA in human and rat suggest the accuracy of rat models for experimental studies on inhibitory neurotransmitters in the central nervous system.