GABRA2 Gene

HGNC Family	Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, Ion channels
Name	gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptor, alpha 2
Description	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]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "<head>\n <meta charset=\"utf-8\">\n <title>Summary of GABRA2 Function</title>\n </head>\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n GABRA2 encodes the α2 subunit of the GABA<sub>A</sub> receptor, a key mediator of fast inhibitory neurotransmission in the central nervous system. A substantial body of evidence demonstrates that regulatory variants in this gene are robustly associated with alcohol dependence and related substance‐use disorders. These studies report that noncoding polymorphisms—especially those extending from intron 3 into the 3′ region—are linked to increased neural excitation and altered subjective responses to alcohol."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "1", "end_ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Multiple association studies conducted in diverse populations have further supported that specific GABRA2 haplotypes and single-nucleotide polymorphisms contribute to the risk for alcohol and illicit drug dependence, particularly in cases with early onset or strong familial loading."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "5", "end_ref": "7"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Functional and neuroimaging investigations provide convergent evidence that GABRA2 influences the neural circuitry of reward and impulse control. For example, carriers of risk-associated alleles exhibit altered subjective response to alcohol and differences in brain activation—particularly in regions implicated in reward valuation—when exposed to alcohol cues."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "8"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In parallel, rodent studies indicate that α2-containing GABA<sub>A</sub> receptors are critical for proper dendritic maturation and synaptic organization, processes that are likely to affect behavioral outcomes related to addiction and mood."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_fs", "start_ref": "10", "end_ref": "12"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Finally, meta-analyses and replication studies underscore that GABRA2 variants modulate the balance between neural inhibition and excitation, thereby affecting affective processes such as anxiety and depressive-like behavior, which in turn may further increase vulnerability to alcohol dependence."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "13"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n In summary, through its role in controlling inhibitory neurotransmission, GABRA2 is a multifaceted modulator that influences reward processing, stress and anxiety responses, and the development of substance use disorders.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Howard J Edenberg, Danielle M Dick, Xiaoling Xuei, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Variations in GABRA2, encoding the alpha 2 subunit of the GABA(A) receptor, are associated with alcohol dependence and with brain oscillations."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Hum Genet (2004)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1086/383283"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1086/383283"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15024690"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15024690"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jonathan Covault, Joel Gelernter, Victor Hesselbrock, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Allelic and haplotypic association of GABRA2 with alcohol dependence."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet (2004)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/ajmg.b.30091"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.b.30091"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15274050"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15274050"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Danielle M Dick, Laura Bierut, Anthony Hinrichs, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "The role of GABRA2 in risk for conduct disorder and alcohol and drug dependence across developmental stages."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Behav Genet (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1007/s10519-005-9041-8"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-005-9041-8"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16557364"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16557364"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jaakko Lappalainen, Evgeny Krupitsky, Mikhail Remizov, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Association between alcoholism and gamma-amino butyric acid alpha2 receptor subtype in a Russian population."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Alcohol Clin Exp Res (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1097/01.alc.0000158938.97464.90"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1097/01.alc.0000158938.97464.90"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15834213"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15834213"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Christoph Fehr, Thomas Sander, Andre Tadic, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Confirmation of association of the GABRA2 gene with alcohol dependence by subtype-specific analysis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Psychiatr Genet (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1097/01.ypg.0000185027.89816.d9"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ypg.0000185027.89816.d9"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16395124"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16395124"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Arpana Agrawal, Howard J Edenberg, Tatiana Foroud, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Association of GABRA2 with drug dependence in the collaborative study of the genetics of alcoholism sample."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Behav Genet (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1007/s10519-006-9069-4"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-006-9069-4"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16622805"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16622805"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "M Soyka, U W Preuss, V Hesselbrock, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "GABA-A2 receptor subunit gene (GABRA2) polymorphisms and risk for alcohol dependence."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Psychiatr Res (2008)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.jpsychires.2006.11.006"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2006.11.006"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17207817"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17207817"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 8, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Amira Pierucci-Lagha, Jonathan Covault, Richard Feinn, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "GABRA2 alleles moderate the subjective effects of alcohol, which are attenuated by finasteride."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Neuropsychopharmacology (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/sj.npp.1300688"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1300688"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "15702134"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15702134"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 9, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "David A Kareken, Tiebing Liang, Leah Wetherill, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "A polymorphism in GABRA2 is associated with the medial frontal response to alcohol cues in an fMRI study."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Alcohol Clin Exp Res (2010)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01293.x"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01293.x"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "20698837"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20698837"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 10, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Venceslas Duveau, Simon Laustela, Lydia Barth, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Spatiotemporal specificity of GABAA receptor-mediated regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Eur J Neurosci (2011)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1111/j.1460-9568.2011.07782.x"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2011.07782.x"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "21722213"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21722213"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 11, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mary-Anne Enoch, Lori Schwartz, Bernard Albaugh, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Dimensional anxiety mediates linkage of GABRA2 haplotypes with alcoholism."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet (2006)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1002/ajmg.b.30336"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ajmg.b.30336"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16874763"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16874763"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 12, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Isabel Vollenweider, Kiersten S Smith, Ruth Keist, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Antidepressant-like properties of α2-containing GABA(A) receptors."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Behav Brain Res (2011)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/j.bbr.2010.10.009"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2010.10.009"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "20965216"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20965216"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 13, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Dawei Li, Arvis Sulovari, Chao Cheng, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Association of gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor α2 gene (GABRA2) with alcohol use disorder."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Neuropsychopharmacology (2014)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/npp.2013.291"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2013.291"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "24136292"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24136292"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 14, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Jonathan Covault, Joel Gelernter, Kevin Jensen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Markers in the 5'-region of GABRG1 associate to alcohol dependence and are in linkage disequilibrium with markers in the adjacent GABRA2 gene."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Neuropsychopharmacology (2008)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1038/sj.npp.1301456"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1301456"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "17507911"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17507911"}]}]}]}
Proteins	GBRA2_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	2555
API
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Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

GABRA2 has 5,449 functional associations with biological entities spanning 9 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, chemical, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA, sequence feature) extracted from 119 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for GABRA2 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

GABRA2 Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Biocarta Pathways	pathways involving GABRA2 protein from the Biocarta Pathways dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures	small molecule perturbations changing expression of GABRA2 gene from the Carcinogenome Chemical Perturbation Carcinogenicity Signatures dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of GABRA2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of GABRA2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with GABRA2 gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of GABRA2 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of GABRA2 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of GABRA2 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	ClinVar Gene-Phenotype Associations 2025	phenotypes associated with GABRA2 gene from the curated ClinVar Gene-Phenotype Associations 2025 dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of GABRA2 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing GABRA2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing GABRA2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with GABRA2 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with GABRA2 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of GABRA2 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with GABRA2 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with GABRA2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with GABRA2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by GABRA2 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases involving GABRA2 gene from the DISEASES Curated Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with GABRA2 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with GABRA2 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with GABRA2 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with GABRA2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with GABRA2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	DrugBank Drug Targets	interacting drugs for GABRA2 protein from the curated DrugBank Drug Targets dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at GABRA2 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of GABRA2 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of GABRA2 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing GABRA2 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with GABRA2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.