Pharmacology of Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subtypes

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This chapter begins with the properties of receptors expressed in the oocyte. Considerable data exist on the properties of neuronal nicotinic receptors in cells isolated from both rat and chick peripheral ganglia or specific brain nuclei. The remainder of the review considers the problem of associating specific properties with known combinations of receptor subunits. Although genes can be included in gene families on the basis of their similarities to other members of the family, the most compelling test of relatedness is function. The Xenopus oocyte has provided a convenient and powerful means of assessing the function of proteins thought to be subunits of ligand-gated ion channels. Injection of RNA transcribed from cDNA clones encoding the appropriate receptor subunits or injection of the cDNA in which the coding sequence is placed downstream of a promoter, such as SV40 (simian virus) or CMV (cytomegalovirus), results in the appearance of functional ligand-gated ion channels on the surface of the oocyte. Oocytes do not express an endogenous functional nicotinic receptor, although it has been reported that they express receptor coding sequences. Oocytes do, however, express a calcium-gated chloride channel. This chapter discusses the rat and chick neuronal nicotinic receptors, properties of the receptors in vivo—pre- and post- synaptic and receptors, presynaptic nicotinic receptors in striatum, hippocampus, and interpeduncular nucleus, somatic nicotinic responses from the central nervous system, chick ciliary ganglion binding of I-labeled neuronal bungarotoxin, and the two classes of nicotinic binding sites in rat superior cervical ganglion. Some useful pharmacological tools allow the limited identification of subunits in native receptors. Block by α-bungarotoxin identifies α7, α8, or α9 subunits; activation of a receptor bycytisine indicates a α7 or β4 subunit; and neuronal bungarotoxin block identifies a β2 subunit. Neuronal nicotinic receptors are highly permeable to calcium, unlike muscle nicotinic receptors.

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