expression or structure (knockouts and knockins) allow investigators to exploit the bottom-up approach and analyze the behavioral consequences of ethanol’s effects on specific targets. Mice lacking the GlyR alpha 2 subunit show reduced ethanol intake, but GlyR alpha 3 knockout mice show increased intake (Mayfield et al., 2016). More evidence of the cellular and brain region location of the GlyRs involved in these behaviors is needed. For example, glycine transporter blockade in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) contributes to increased motor impulsivity during protracted abstinence from long-term ethanol exposure (Irimia et al., 2017). Targeted conditional knockout mice may help us to better understand the contribution of GlyRs to ethanol intoxication, consumption, and AUD.
