Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2026

Isolation of Murine Coronary Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
Published on: May 30, 2016
Expression of muscarinic receptor genes in the human coronary artery
M Niihashi1, M Esumi, Y Kusumi
1Department of Pathology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
The authors investigated the role of muscarinic receptors in functional control of coronary arteries affected by intimal thickening due to arteriosclerosis. They first examined the genetic subtypes of muscarinic receptors expressed in human coronary arteries. Twelve samples of human coronary artery, obtained by autopsy from eight subjects, were examined for the expression of four genetic subtypes of muscarinic receptor, m1 to m4, by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Two subtypes, m2 and m3, were found to be expressed in the coronary artery. The m2 gene was expressed in seven of the 12 vessels, and m3 in eight of the 12. Expression of both m2 and m3 genes was observed in five of the 12 vessels. Neither the m1 nor m4 was expressed in these samples. These results indicate that the m2 and m3 genes are mainly expressed in the coronary arteries and suggest that these patterns of expression are differentially controlled to induce the diversity of contraction/relaxation reactions induced in the coronary arteries by acetylcholine.
More Related Videos
08:28Isolation of Primary Patient-specific Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells and Semiquantitative Real-time Contraction Measurements In Vitro
Published on: February 15, 2022
08:59Utilizing the Precision-Cut Lung Slice to Study the Contractile Regulation of Airway and Intrapulmonary Arterial Smooth Muscle
Published on: May 5, 2022
Related Concept Videos
G-Protein Gated Ion Channels
Sensory organs,...
Nitric Oxide Signaling Pathway
Cholinergic Receptors: Muscarinic
The subtypes M1, M3, and M5 couple with the Gq subunit and activate the phospholipase C (PLC) activity, mobilizing intracellular Ca2+. Activation...
Cholinergic Receptors: Nicotinic
There are two types of nicotinic receptors: neuromuscular (NM/NM/N1) and neuronal (NN/NN/N2). The two families differ based on their location and selectivity to...
Direct-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Pharmacological Actions
Parasympathetic Signaling
The effects of...