Trifluoroacetate (100 渭M-3 mM) enhanced the currents elicited by low concentrations of glycine applied to 伪1 homomeric and 伪1尾 heteromeric glycine receptors, but it had no effects when co-applied with a maximally-effective glycine concentration. Trifluoroacetate had no effects on 伪1尾2纬2S GABAA or 5-HT3A receptors at any GABA or serotonin concentration tested.
The results demonstrate that trifluoroacetate acts as an allosteric modulator at the glycine receptor with greater specificity than other known modulators. These results have important implications for both the secondary effects of volatile anesthetics and the presence of contaminating trifluoroacetate in HPLC-purified peptides, which is potentially an important source of experimental variability or error that requires control.