Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Voltage Effects On Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor-Mediated Contractions Of Airway Smooth Muscle, Iurii Semenov, Robert Brenner

Bioelectrics Publications

Studies have shown that the activity of muscarinic receptors and their affinity to agonists are sensitive to membrane potential. It was reported that in airway smooth muscle (ASM) depolarization evoked by high K⁺ solution increases contractility through direct effects on M3 muscarinic receptors. In this study, we assessed the physiological relevance of voltage sensitivity of muscarinic receptors on ASM contractility. Our findings reveal that depolarization by high K⁺ solution induces contraction in intact mouse trachea predominantly through activation of acetylcholine release from embedded nerves, and to a lesser extent by direct effects on M3 receptors. We therefore devised …