In addition to discrete mechanisms of transcriptional regulation, analysis of the human transcriptome has identified alterations in ion channel subunits and other systems that may be associated with alcohol dependence. In the following sections, we discuss several of these gene categories. Jones et al. (2015) reviews other candidate alcohol-responsive genes, including variants of the following: the mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1), dopamine transporter (SLC6A3), serotonin transporter (SLC6A4), dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2), and the α3 subunit of the glycine receptor (GLRA3).
