Regulation of muscarinic receptor function in developing oligodendrocytes by agonist exposure

Oligodendrocytes, the myelin forming cells in the CNS, express muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChR), primarily M3, coupled to various signal transduction pathways. In the present study we have investigated whether mAChR undergo functional agonist‐induced regulation in cultured oligodendrocyte progenitors and differentiated oligodendrocytes. The muscarinic agonist, carbachol (CCh) caused a time‐dependent desensitization of phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis, and the internalization and down‐regulation of receptors. Short‐time desensitization (5 min) of PI hydrolysis occurred without receptor internalization and reached 54% by 1 h. The same treatment decreased cell surface receptors labelled with the non‐permeable ligand [ 3 H]‐NMS by 47%, while total receptor density ([ 3 H]‐scopolamine binding) decreased by 30%. Longer CCh treatment down‐regulated receptors by 70% and desensitized the PI response by 80%. Although protein kinase C (PKC) activation desensitized mAChR, CCh‐mediated desensitization was independent of PKC. Inhibition of receptor endocytosis by low temperature during the pre‐stimulation period or in the presence of hyperosmotic sucrose (0.5 M ) blocked desensitization, receptor internalization and down‐regulation. Recovery of surface mAChR and their functional activity following down‐regulation was slow, returning to control levels by 24 h after agonist removal. In progenitor cells, dose‐response curves for CCh‐mediated PI hydrolysis and c‐ fos mRNA expression showed that newly synthesized mAChR were supersensitive after recovery. Overall, the present results provide evidence of functional agonist‐mediated mAChR regulation in brain oligodendroglial cells.British Journal of Pharmacology (2003) 138 , 47–56. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0705002