• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.32 no.3 s.126
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• pp.219-225
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• 2001

The water extracts of 82 Korean medicinal herbs were examined for the binding affinity on the recombinant human muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype 1 $(mAChR-M_1)$ produced from the CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) cell line. Of those tested, the extracts of Coptidis Rhizoma, Phellodendri Cortex, Hedyotis Herba and of Terminariae Fructus were found to exhibit a significant competition with $[^3H]$ N-methyl-scopolamine for the specific binding to $mAChR-M_1$ in a dose dependent manner, respectively.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.212-218
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• 1987

Intact brain cell aggregates were dissociated from adult rat brains without cerebellum using a sieving technique. This proparation was used to elucidate the binding characteristics of agonist to muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAchR) in brain. Incubation of cells with carbamylcholine (carbachol) was shown agonist-induced receptor down-regulation depending on the concentration of agonist, not depending on the incubation time. This effect of carbachol was due to a reduction in the maximal binding capacity ($B_{max}$) to the mAchR without decreasing the affinity of the remaining receptors in incubation at 37.deg.C but was not apparent inincubation at $15^{\circ}}C$In addition, it was abolished when the receptors were blocked by atropine. The decline in ($^3H$)N-methylscopolamine (($^3H$)NMS) binding induced by agonist was reflected as a significant reduction in the receptor density with no change in receptor affinity, suggesting that 'true' receptor down-regulation takes place. Moreover, when the receptors were labeled with the lipophilic antagonist ($^3H$) quinuclidinyl benzilate (($^3H$) QNB) insted of the hydrophilic ligand ($^3H$)NMS, the magnitude of the observed receptor down-regulation was significantly lower in case of the former than the latter. This suggested that exposure of intact brain cells to muscarinic agonists might induce a slight degree of accumulation of receptors in intracellular sites before the receptors are actually degraded.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.504-509
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• 2008

Three G-protein-linked acetylcholine receptors (GARs) exist in the nematode C. elegans. GAR-3 is pharmacologically most similar to mammalian muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs). We observed that carbachol stimulated ERK1/2 activation in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably expressing GAR-3b, the predominant alternatively spliced isoform of GAR-3. This effect was substantially reduced by the phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor U73122 and the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor GF109203X, implying that PLC and PKC are involved in this process. On the other hand, GAR-3b-mediated ERK1/2 activation was inhibited by treatment with forskolin, an adenylate cyclase (AC) activator. This inhibitory effect was blocked by H89, an inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA). These results suggest that GAR-3b-mediated ERK1/2 activation is negatively regulated by cAMP through PKA. Together our data show that GAR-3b mediates ERK1/2 activation in CHO cells and that GAR-3b can couple to both stimulatory and inhibitory pathways to modulate ERK1/2.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.55-61
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• 1999

The present experiments were performed to examine the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) and carbachol (CC) on thyroxine ($T_4$) release and any possible relation between inhibition of $T_4$ release and signaling pathway in guinea pig thyroids. The thyroids were incubated in the medium containing the test agents, samples of the medium were assayed for $T_4$ by EIA kits. ACh and CC inhibited the TSH-stimulated $T_4$ release. These inhibition were reversed by atropine, but not by d-tubocurarine. The inhibitory effects of ACh on $T_4$ release were prevented by $M_{1^-}$ and $M_{3^-}$muscarinic antagonists and its inhibition was also slightly reversed by $M_{2^-}$ and $M_{4^-}$muscarinic antagonists. R59022, like ACh and CC, also inhibited the TSH-stimulated $T_4$ release. This inhibition was reversed by protein kinase C inhibitor and $Ca^{2+}$ channel blocker. The present study suggests that cholinergic inhibition of $T_4$ release from thyroids can be induced mainly by activation of the $M_{1^-}$ or $M_{3^-}$ receptors and that it is mediated through the muscarinic receptorstimulated protein kinase C activation.

• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
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• 2002.06a
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• pp.71-71
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• 2002

Our previous study has suggested that muscarinic receptor present in the mouse oocytes, and Ca/sup 2+/ waves elicited by acetylcholine (ACh) are similar to those induced by sperm. A numerous study reported that ACh could cause early activation events in mouse oocytes overexpressing the Ml muscarinic receptor (Williams et al., 1992; Moore et al., 1993; Kim et al., 1998). However, the physiological role of ACh during mouse embryonic development is poorly understood. (omitted)

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1103-1109
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• 2015

Cholinergic innervation of the hippocampus is known to be correlated with learning and memory. The cholinergic agonist carbachol (CCh) modulate synaptic plasticity and produced long-term synaptic depression (LTD) in the hippocampus. However, the exact mechanisms by which the cholinergic system modifies synaptic functions in the hippocampus have yet to be determined. This study introduces an acetylcholine receptor-mediated LTD that requires internalization of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA) receptors on the postsynaptic surface and their intracellular mechanism in the hippocampus. In the present study, we showed that the application of the cholinergic agonist CCh reduced the surface expression of GluA2 on synapses and that this reduction was prevented by the M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist pirenzepine in primary hippocampal neurons. The interaction between GluA2 and the glutamate receptor-interacting protein 1 (GRIP1) was disrupted in a hippocampal slice from a rat upon CCh simulation. Under the same conditions, the binding of GluA2 to adaptin-α, a protein involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis, was enhanced. The current data suggest that the activation of LTD, mediated by the acetylcholine receptor, requires the internalization of the GluA2 subunits of AMPA receptors and that this may be controlled by the disruption of GRIP1 in the PDZ ligand domain of GluA2. Therefore, we can hypothesize that one mechanism underlying the LTD mediated by the M1 mAChR is the internalization of the GluA2 AMPAR subunits from the plasma membrane in the hippocampal cholinergic system.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.525-529
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• 1996

Ligand binding properties of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) were characterized by using filtration binding assays. Scatchard analysis using $[^{3}H]N-methylscopolamine$ ($[^{3}H]NMS$) showed that the dissociation constant ($K_d$) and the maximum binding value ($B_{max}$) were $3.3{\pm}0.8{\times}10^{10}$ M and $9.0{\pm}1.1$ fmol/mg protein, respectively. Binding competition experiments indicated that the affinities of C. elegans mAChRs to atropine, scopolamine, and oxotremorine were similar to those of mammalian mAChRs. Pirenzepine binding experiments revealed that the binding pattern of mAChRs in C. elegans closely resembled that of mAChRs in rat brain, suggesting that the receptors consist primarily of Ml subtype. The affinity of mAChRs for oxotrernorine was significantly affected by guanylylimidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p), a non hydrolyzable GTP analog, suggesting that mAChRs in C. elegans might be coupled to G proteins. The data presented here indicate the possibility that C. elegans provides a living animal model to study the action mode of the muscarinic cholinergic system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.209-209
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• 1996

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors contain two highly conserved tyrosine residues which are located within or at the extracellular border of the second transmembrane domain. These tyrosine residues are located at positions 82 and 85 of the sequence of the ml subtype of muscarinic receptors. In this wok, we studied the involvement of these two residues in ligand binding to and agonist-induced activation this receptor subtype. our data suggest an important role for these two tyrosines in these processes, with a more prominent role for the tyrosine residue located at position 82 than that located at position 85. Evidence is also provided that while the aromatic moiety of these tyrosine residues is important for antagonist binding, both this moiety and the tyrosine phenolic hydroxyl group are involved in agonist binding and receptor activation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 1998

It was attempted to clarify the participation of $K^+-channels$ in the post-receptor mechanisms of the muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptor- mediated control of acetylcholine (ACh) release in the present study. Slices from the rat hippocampus were equilibrated with $[^3H]$choline and the release of the labelled products was evoked by electrical stimulation (3 Hz, 5 V/cm, 2 ms, rectangular pulses), and the influence of various agents on the evoked tritium-outflow was investigated. Oxotremorine (Oxo, $0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), a muscarinic agonist, and $N^6-cyclopentyladenosine$ (CPA, $1{\sim}30\;{\mu}M$), a specific $A_1-adenosine$ agonist, decreased the ACh release in a dose-dependent manner, without affecting the basal rate of release. 4-aminopyridine (4AP), a specific A-type $K^+-channel$ blocker ($1{\sim}100\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-related fashion, and the basal rate of release is increased by 3 and $100\;{\mu}M$. Tetraethylammonium (TEA), a non-specific $K^+-channel$ blocker ($0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-dependent manner without affecting the basal release. The effects of Oxo and CPA were not affected by $3\;{\mu}M$ 4AP co-treatment, but 10 mM TEA significantly inhibited the effects of Oxo and CPA. 4AP ($10\;{\mu}M$)- and TEA (10 mM)-induced increments of evoked ACh release were completely abolished in Ca^{2+}-free$ medium, but these were recoverd in low Ca^{2+}$ medium. And the effects of $K^+-channel$ blockers in low Ca^{2+}$ medium were inhibited by $Mg^{2+}$ (4 mM) and abolished by $0.3\;{\mu}M$ tetrodotoxin (TTX). These results suggest that the changes in TEA-sensitive potassium channel permeability and the consequent limitation of Ca^{2+}$ influx are partly involved in the presynaptic modulation of the evoked ACh-release by muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptors of the rat hippocampus.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.930-935
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• 2005

We have investigated the effects of relatively high concentration of carbachol (CCh), an agonist of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR), on cardiac automaticity in mouse heart. Action potentials from automatically beating right atria of mice were measured with conventional microelectrodes. When atria were treated with $100{\mu}M$ CCh, atrial beating was immediately arrested and diastolic membrane potential (DMP) was depolarized. After exposure of the atria to CCh for $\~4 min$, action potentials were regenerated. The regenerated action potentials had lower frequency and shorter duration when compared with the control. When atria were pre-exposed to pirenzepine $(1{\mu}M)$, an $M_1$ mAChR antagonist, there was complete inhibition of CCh-induced depolarization of DMP and regeneration of action potentials. Pre-exposure to AFDX-116 (11 ({2-[(diethylamino)-methyl]-1-piperidyl}acetyl)-5, 11-dihydro-6H-pyridol[2,3-b][1,4] benzodiazepine-6-one base, $1{\mu}M$), an $M_2$ mAChR antagonist, failed to block CCh-induced arrest of the beating. However, prolonged exposure to CCh elicited gradual depolarization of DMP and slight acceleration in beating rate. Our data indicate that high concentration of CCh depolarizes membrane potential and recovers right atrial automaticity via $M_1$ mAChR, providing functional evidence for the role of $M_1$ mAChR in the atrial myocytes.