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Muscarinic Agonists Cause Calcium Influx and Calcium Mobilization in Forebrain Neurons In Vitro
Author(s) -
Reynolds Ian J.,
Miller Richard J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1989.tb07318.x
Subject(s) - calcium , forebrain , muscarinic acetylcholine receptor , neuroscience , mobilization , in vitro , chemistry , medicine , biology , central nervous system , biochemistry , receptor , political science , law
We have examined the effects of the muscarinic agonist carbachol on the intracellular free Ca 2+ concentration ([Ca 2+ ] i ) in primary cultures of neurons from rat forebrain using the Ca 2+ ‐sensitive fluorescent dye fura‐2. Addition of carbachol increased the [Ca 2+ ] i in ∼60% of cells studied. Oxotremorine‐M, but not pilocarpine, mimicked the effects of carbachol. The response was reduced by 60% on removal of extracellular Ca 2+ , a finding suggesting that muscarinic receptor activation causes Ca 2+ influx in addition to intracellular Ca 2+ mobilization. Tetrodotoxin and nitrendipine also significantly reduced the response to carbachol. These studies suggest that the changes in [Ca 2+ ] i produced by activation of muscarinic receptors result in part from mobilization of intracellular Ca 2+ and that influx through voltage‐sensitive Ca 2+ channels also provides a significant contribution to the net [Ca 2+ ] i change observed