• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.486-494
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• 2000

Background : The dominant innervation of airway smooth muscle is parasympathetic fibers which are carried in the vagus nerve. Activation of these cholinergic nerves releases acetylcholine which binds to $M_3$ muscarinic receptors on the smooth muscle causing bronchocontraction. Acetylcholine also feeds back onto neuronal $M_2$ muscarinic receptors located on the postganglionic cholinergic nerves. Stimulation of these receptors further inhibits acetylcholine release, so these $M_2$, muscarinic receptors act as autoreceptors. Loss of function of these $M_2$ receptors, as it occurs in animal models of hyperresponsiveness, leads to an increase in vagally mediated hyperresponsiveness. However, there are limited data pertaining to whether there are dysfunctions of these receptors in patients with asthma. The aim of this study is to determine whether there are dysfunction of $M_2$ muscarinic receptors in asthmatic patients and difference of function of these receptors according to severity of asthma. Method : We studied twenty-seven patients with asthma who were registered at Pulmonology Division of Korea University Hospital. They all met asthma criteria of ATS. Of these patients, eleven patients were categorized as having mild asthma, eight patients moderate asthma and eight patients severe asthma according to severity by NAEPP Expert Panel Report 2(1997). All subjects were free of recent upper respiratory tract infection within 2 weeks and showed positive methacholine challenge test ($PC_{20}$<16mg/ml). Methacholine provocation tests were performed twice on separate days allowing for an interval of one week. In the second test, pretreatment with the $M_2$ muscarinic receptor agonist pilocarpine($180{\mu}g$) through inhalation was performed be fore the routine procedures. Results : Eleven subjects with mild asthma and eight subjects with moderate asthma showed significant increase of $PC_{20}$ from 5.30$\pm$5.23mg/ml(mean$\pm$SD) to 20.82$\pm$22.56mg/ml(p=0.004) and from 2.79$\pm$1.51mg/ml to 4.67$\pm$3.53mg/ml(p=0.012) after pilocarpine inhalation, respectively. However, in the eight subjects with severe asthma significant increase of $PC_{20}$ from l.76$\pm$1.50mg/ml to 3.18$\pm$4.03mg/ml(p=0.161) after pilocarpine inhalation was not found. Conclusion : In subjects with mild and moderate asthma, function of $M_2$ muscarinic receptors was normal, but there was a dysfunction of these receptors in subjects with severe asthma. ηlese results suggest that function of $M_2$ muscarinic receptors is different according to severity of asthma.

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.185.1-185
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• 2000

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.70-73
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• 1972

It has been postulated that acetylcholine exhibits both nicotine and muscarinic activity because of its ability to present two patterns of essential atoms to the receptors. These two patterns arise from the ability of the molecule to exist in more than one preferred conformation. The molecule S(+)-acetyl-${\beta}$-methylacetylcholine exhibits only muscarinic activity. Calculations using molecular orbital theory predict that this molecule prefers only the muscarinic conformation. This is offered as an explanation for the exclusive role of the molecule and as evidence supporting the twoconformation, two-activities hypothesis.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.84.1-84.1
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• 2003

Methamphetamine is a powerful stimulant that appears to produce locomotor activity and behavioral sensitization. Previous study has indicated that dopaminergic receptors are implicated in the behavioral responses of methamphetamine. Recently, it has been reported that other receptors, especially, M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M1R) plays an important role in the regulation of behavioral responses, and this receptor is abundantly expressed in brain regions, including the cerebral cortex, striatum, and the hippocampus of the animal. (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.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.307-314
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• 1999

The human muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) subtypes Hml, Hm2 and Hm3 have been expressed in insect cells (Spodoptera frugiperda, Sf9) using the baculovirus expression system. Expression of relevant DNA, transcript and receptor proteins was identified by PCR, Northern blotting and [$^{3}H$]QNB binding, respectively. As assessed by [$^{3}H$]QNB binding sites, yields of muscarinic receptors in membrane preparations in this study were as about 5-20 times high as those in mammalian cells reported in previous studies. The [$^{3}H$]QNB competition binding studies with well-known subtype-selective mAChR antagonists showed that the receptors expressed in Sf9 cells retain the pharmacological characteristics expected for the ml , m2 and m3 muscarinic receptors. The ml-selective antagonist, pirenzepine, displayed a considerably higher affinity for Hml by 110-fold and 35-fold than for Hm2 and Hm3, respectively, The m2-selective methoctramine displayed a significantly higher affinity for Hm2 than for Hml and Hm3 (10- and 26-fold, respectively). p-F-HHSiD exhibited high affinity for Hm3 that is not significantly different from those for Hml, but 66-fold higher than its affinity for Hm2. The functional coupling of the recombinant receptors to second messenger systems was also examined. While both Hml and Hm3 stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis upon activation by carba-chol, Hm2 produced no response. On the other hand, activation of mAChRs induced the inhibition of forsko-lin-stimulated cyclic AMP formation in Hm2-expressing cells, whereas the significant dose-dependent increase in or poor response on cyclic AMP formation were produced in Hml or Hm3-expressing cells, respectively. These results indicate the differential coupling of recombinant Hml, Hm2 and Hm3 receptors expressed in SF9 cells to intracellular signalling system.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.145-150
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• 2010

Adenosine (Ado) is an important mediator of the endogenous defense against ischemia-induced injury in the heart. The action of Ado is mediated by activation of G protein-gated inwardly rectifying $K^+$ (GIRK) channels. In turn, GIRK channels are inhibited by reducing phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate ($PIP_2$) through Gq protein-coupled receptors (GqPCRs). We previously found that GIRK channels activated by acetylcholine, a muscarinic M2 acetylcholine receptor agonist, are inhibited by GqPCRs in a receptor-specific manner. However, it is not known whether GIRK channels activated by Ado signaling are also regulated by GqPCRs. Presently, this was investigated in mouse atrial myocytes using the patch clamp technique. GIRK channels were activated by $100\;{\mu}M$ Ado. When Ado was repetitively applied at intervals of 5~6 min, the amplitude of second Ado-activated GIRK currents ($I_{K(Ado)}$) was $88.3{\pm}3.7%$ of the first $I_{K(Ado)}$ in the control. Pretreatment of atrial myocytes with phenylephrine, endothelin-1, or bradykinin prior to a second application of Ado reduced the amplitude of the second $I_{K(Ado)}$ to $25.5{\pm}11.6%$, $30.5{\pm}5.6%$, and $96.0{\pm}2.7%$, respectively. The potency of $I_{K(Ado)}$ inhibition by GqPCRs was different with that observed in acetylcholine-activated GIRK currents ($I_{K(ACh)}$) (endothelin-1>phenylephrine>bradykinin). $I_{K(Ado)}$ was almost completely inhibited by $500\;{\mu}M$ of the $PIP_2$ scavenger neomycin, suggesting low $PIP_2$ affinity of $I_{K(Ado)}$. Taken together, these results suggest that the crosstalk between GqPCRs and the Ado-induced signaling pathway is receptor-specific. The differential change in $PIP_2$ affinity of GIRK channels activated by Ado and ACh may underlie, at least in part, their differential responses to GqPCR agonists.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.131-133
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• 2002

In 'Nature', Dixon et al. reported the first cloned mammalian G-protein coupled receptor sequence (1). The DNA sequence from a hamster encodes the $\beta$$_2$-aderenergic receptor. In the same year, 1986, Kubo et al. published the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor sequence (M$_1$) from a rat in the same journal (2). Both groups purified the receptor proteins and identified the DNA sequences (1, 2). (omitted)

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.26-31
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• 2005

The present study examined effects of a water-soluble fraction from mulberry leaves (ML water fraction) on the circulatory and autonomic nervous systems, which were compared with those of acetylcholine (ACh) used as a reference drug in order to elucidate its mechanism of action. Intravenous administration of ACh or a ML water fraction produced temporary depressor and tachycardiac responses in a dose-dependent manner in unrestrained, conscious Sprague-Dawley rats. The systemic hemodynamic effects of ACh and a ML water fraction were almost completely blocked by pretreatment with atropine, a muscarinic antagonist. The depressor responses to ACh and a ML water fraction were slightly enhanced and prolonged by pretreatment with neostigmine, an anticholinesterase, whereas the tachycardiac responses were remarkably blocked by pretreatment with pentolinium, a ganglionic blocking agent. In vitro experiments using the ileum isolated from rats showed that ACh and a ML water fraction increased ileal contractility in a dose-dependent manner. The increases in ileal contractility were also completely abolished in the presence of atropine. Finally, the specific binding of [$^3H$]quinuclidinyl benzilate, a muscarinic antagonist, to rat cortical synaptic membranes was inhibited by a ML water fraction in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC$_{50}$ value of 9.5 mg/ml. The results suggest that the effects of a ML water fraction are mediated through direct stimulation of muscarinic cholinergic receptors by unknown cholinomimetic substance(s) contained in that fraction.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.63-67
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• 1994

Berberine $(10^{-7}-10^5M)$ increased the contractility dose-dependently in isolated rabbit ileal and jejunal segments. Atropine and hemicholinium abolished this response but not mecamylamine. Berberine$(10^{-8}-10^5M)$ enhanced the transmurally-stimulated(80 V, 0.5 ms, 0.05 Hz) twitch response in the isolated guinea-pig ileal segments. Atropine and hemicholinium also abolished this response but not mecamylamine. Effect of KCI, carbachol and histamine were not affected by pretreatment with berberine$(10^{-5}M)$. The results of our study suggest that berberine increases the intestinal contractility by increasing a small amount of acetylcholine release from the postganglionic parasympathetic nerve terminal but not by a direct activation of muscarinic receptors.