a specific inhibitor, the hypothesis that acetylcholine-induced coronary vasodilation is due to EDRF release was tested. Methods and Results. We studied the response of normal coronary arteries to acetylcholine (an endothelium-dependent vasodilator) and isosorbide dinitrate (an endothelium-independent vasodilator) in seven patients. The specificity of any vasodilator response was assessed by th...

Changes in the isometric tension of isolated strips of cutaneous, femoral, mesenteric, pulmonary, and muscle arteries and veins were recorded at 37°C in an organ bath. Acetylcholine (5 X 10~ and 10"' g/ml) caused relaxation of strips from the saphenous veins, the femoral veins, and all of the arteries after contraction by norepinephrine released from nerve terminals by electrical stimulation (2...

Endothelium-dependent relaxation of mesenteric resistance arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats was studied. Acetylcholine-induced relaxation of SHR vessels precontracted with 10 microM norepinephrine was endothelium dependent and attenuated compared with WKY vessels. The impaired response of SHR vessels was normalized by inhibition of cyclo...

Galanin coexists with acetylcholine in medial septal neurons projecting to the ventral hippocampus, a projection thought to modulate memory functions. Neurochemical lesions of the nucleus basalis-medial septal area in rats impaired choice accuracy on a delayed alternation t-maze task. Acetylcholine (7.5 or 10 micrograms intraventricularly or 1 micrograms micro-injected into the ventral hippocam...

Cyclic monoterpenes are a group of phytochemicals with antinociceptive, local anesthetic, and anti-inflammatory actions. Effects of cyclic monoterpenes including vanilin, pulegone, eugenole, carvone, carvacrol, carveol, thymol, thymoquinone, menthone, and limonene were investigated on the functional properties of the cloned α7 subunit of the human nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expressed in X...

We have isolated a cDNA clone from the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that encodes a protein of greatest sequence similarity to muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. This gene codes for a polypeptide of 682 amino acids containing seven putative transmembrane domains. The amino acid identities, excluding a highly variable middle portion of the third intracellular loop, to the human m1-m5 receptor...

Acetylcholine has long been implicated in memory, including hippocampal-dependent memory, but the specific role for this neurotransmitter is difficult to identify in human neuropsychology. Here, we review the evidence for a mechanistic model of acetylcholine function within the hippocampus and consider its explanatory power for interpreting effects resulting from both pharmacological anticholin...

Acetylcholine-binding protein is a water-soluble homologue of the extracellular ligand-binding domain of cys-loop receptors. It is used as a structurally accessible prototype for studying ligand binding to these pharmaceutically important pentameric ion channels, in particular to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, due to conserved binding site residues present at the interface between two subun...

In 1952, Hodgkin-Huxley have developed an electronic circuit describing the biophysical nature of a neuron. Acetylcholine field effect transistor (AchFET) has been developed in this paper for detection of Acetylcholine (neurotransmitter) and then the AchFET is used in an electronic circuit to reproduce neuronal signals. AchFET is an enzyme field effect transistor (ENFET) fabricated by immobiliz...

Cholinergic abnormalities, alongside senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and extensive neuronal loss, are the major characteristics in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Both nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors are decreased in AD, and it has been shown that the reduction in the number of acetylcholine receptors precedes other pathologic changes. Anti-cholinergic drugs induce amnesia, ...