mRNAs encoding five genetically distinct muscarinic ACh receptors are present in the CNS. Because of their pharmacological similarities, it has not been possible to detect the individual encoded proteins; thus, their physiological functions are not well defined. To characterize the family of proteins, a panel of subtype-selective antibodies was generated against recombinant muscarinic receptor ...

Previous work from our laboratory indicates that bile acids, specifically lithocholic acid conjugates, interact with muscarinic receptors on gastric chief cells. Structural similarities between acetylcholine and lithocholyltaurine suggest a potential molecular basis for their interaction with the same receptor. We synthesized a hybrid molecule consisting of the steroid nucleus of lithocholyltau...

Muscarinic receptor subtypes have been identified on airways of several mammalian species, including humans. M1-receptors are found in airway ganglia, M2-receptors (autoreceptors) are present in cholinergic postganglionic nerves at the prejunctional level, whereas the muscarinic receptor subtypes found in airway smooth muscle are of the M3-receptor subtype (1, 12). Methacholine 2-(acetyloxy)-N,...

Specificities of cholinergic receptors for the accumulation of inositol trisphosphates (InsP3) and cyclic GMP and mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ in relation to culture periods were investigated in primary cultures of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells. At 0.5 day in culture, muscarine, a specific agonist for muscarinic receptors, caused a greater effect on intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and t...

There are five known subtypes of muscarinic receptors (M(1)-M(5)). We have used knockout mice lacking the M(1), M(2), or M(4) receptors to determine which subtypes mediate modulation of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels in mouse sympathetic neurons. Muscarinic agonists modulate N- and L-type Ca(2+) channels in these neurons through two distinct G-protein-mediated mechanisms. One pathway is fast and...

High-affinity muscarinic cholinergic receptors were detected in myelin purified from rat brain stem with use of the radioligands 3H-N-methylscopolamine (3H-NMS), 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate (3H-QNB), and 3H-pirenzepine. 3H-NMS binding was also present in myelin isolated from corpus callosum. In contrast, several other receptor types, including alpha 1- and alpha 2-adrenergic receptors, present i...

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (M(1)-M(5)) regulate many key functions of the central and peripheral nervous system. Primarily because of the lack of receptor subtype-selective ligands, the precise physiological roles of the individual muscarinic receptor subtypes remain to be elucidated. Interestingly, the M(4) receptor subtype is expressed abundantly in the striatum and various other fore...

Several motifs found in the third intracellular loop of the M(3) muscarinic receptor are critical for G protein activation and scaffold protein interaction. However, how multiprotein complexes form is not fully understood. A minigene encoding the third intracellular loop of the M(3) muscarinic receptor was constructed to explore whether peptides from this intracellular region could act as inhib...