Clusters of GABA A receptors on cultured hippocampal cells correlate only partially with functional synapses

We describe a method to label γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptors on the surface of living hippocampal neurons in primary culture, and we compare the distribution of receptors with that of active synapses. To visualize GABA A receptors, the affinity‐purified antibody β3(1–13), recognizing the extracellular N‐termini of the GABA A receptor β2‐ and β3‐subunits, was used in combination with fluorescent secondary antibodies. The β2‐ and β3‐subunits belong to the predominant GABA A receptor subunits in the hippocampus. As expected for aggregates of GABA A receptors in the somato‐dendritic plasma membrane, a patchy staining pattern similar to that seen by labelling neurons after fixation was obtained. An antiserum recognizing an intracellular epitope of GABA A receptor β3‐subunits did not label the receptors in living neurons. Whole‐cell recordings of GABA‐evoked Cl – currents were not affected after decorating GABA A receptors with antibody β3(1–13). Combining the staining of GABA A receptors with the labelling of active presynaptic terminals with the fluorescent dyes FM1‐43 or FM4‐64, consistently resulted in the detection of GABA A receptor clusters that were not located at active synapses. These amounted to ≈ 50% of all labelled GABA A receptor clusters. GABA A receptor clusters that were not associated with active presynaptic terminals partially colocalized with the synaptic vesicle marker protein sv2, while another fraction had no presynaptic counterpart at all. These findings suggest the presence of presynaptically silent GABAergic synapses in cultured hippocampal neurons. They also indicate that for the maintenance of GABA A receptor aggregates, the release of GABA from an opposing active terminal is not essential.