Revisiting the TRAK family of proteins as mediators of GABAA receptor trafficking.

F Anne Stephenson

Neurochemical research 2014 Jun

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γ-Aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor interacting factor-1 (GRIF-1) was originally discovered as a result of studies aiming to find the elusive GABAA receptor clustering protein. It was identified as a GABAA receptor associated protein by virtue of its specific interaction with the GABAA receptor β2 subunit intracellular loop in a yeast two-hybrid screen of a rat brain cDNA library. Further work however, established that GRIF-1, now known as trafficking kinesin protein 2 (TRAK2), is a member of the TRAK family of kinesin adaptor proteins. A pivotal role for TRAK1 and TRAK2 in the transport of mitochondria is well recognized. Notwithstanding this progress, there is a body of evidence that still supports a role for TRAKs in the intracellular transport of GABAA receptors. This is critically reviewed in this article.