The effects of carbamylcholine, calcium, and cyclic nucleotides on acetylcholine receptor synthesis in cultured myotubes

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: upregulation, age-related effects and associations with drug use

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that exogenously bind nicotine. Nicotine produces rewarding effects by interacting with these receptors in the brain's reward system. Unlike other receptors, chronic stimulation by an agonist induces an upregulation of receptor number that is not due to increased gene expression in adults; while upregulation also occurs during development and adolescence there have been some opposing findings regarding a change in corresponding gene expression. These receptors have also been well studied with regard to human genetic associations and, based on evidence suggesting shared genetic liabilities between substance use disorders, numerous studies have pointed to a role for this system in comorbid drug use. This review will focus on upregulation of these receptors in adulthood, adolescence and development, as well as the findings from human genetic association studies which point to different roles for these receptors in risk for initiation and continuation of drug use.

Effects of chronic nicotinic ligand exposure on functional activity of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed by cells of the PC12 rat pheochromocytoma or the TE671/RD human clonal line

Studies were conducted to ascertain the temporal and dose-dependent effects of nicotinic ligand exposure on functional activity of different nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes, as expressed by cells of the PC12 rat pheochromocytoma (ganglia-type nAChR) or the TE671/RD human (muscle-type nAChR) clonal line. Chronic (3-72-h) agonist (nicotine or carbamylcholine) treatment of cells led to a complete (TE671) or nearly complete (PC12) loss of functional nAChR responses, which is referred to as "functional inactivation." Some inactivation of nAChR function was also observed for the nicotinic ligands d-tubocurarine (d-TC), mecamylamine, and decamethonium. Half-maximal inactivation of nAChR function was observed within 3 min for TE671 cells and within 10 min for PC12 cells treated with inactivating ligands. Functional inactivation occurred with dose dependencies that could not always be reconciled with those obtained for acute agonist activation of nAChR function or for acute inhibition of those responses by d-TC, decamethonium, or mecamylamine. Treatment of TE671 or PC12 cells with the nicotinic antagonist pancuronium or alcuronium alone had no effect on levels of expression of functional nAChRs. However, evidence was obtained that either of these antagonists protected TE671 cell muscle-type nAChRs or PC12 cell ganglia-type nAChRs from functional inactivation on long-term treatment with agonists. Recovery of TE671 cell nAChR function following treatment with carbamylcholine, nicotine, or d-TC occurred with half-times of 1-3 days whether cells were maintained in situ or harvested and replated after removal of ligand. By contrast, 50% recovery of functional nAChRs on PC12 cells occurred within 2-6 h after drug removal. In either case the time course for recovery from nAChR functional inactivation is much slower than recovery from nAChR "functional desensitization," which is a reversible process that occurs on shorter-term (0-5-min) agonist exposure of cells. These results indicate that ganglia-type and muscle-type nAChRs are similar in their sensitivities to functional inactivation by nicotinic ligands but differ in their rates of recovery from and onset of those effects. The ability of drugs such as the agonists d-TC, decamethonium, and mecamylamine to induce functional inactivation may relate to their activities as partial/full agonists, channel blockers, and/or allosteric regulators. Effects of drugs such as pancuronium and alcuronium are likely to reflect simple competitive inhibition of primary ligand binding at functional activation sites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)