Trifluoperazine stimulates acetylcholine receptor synthesis in cultured chick myotubes

Acetylcholine receptor appearance rate in the presence of the phenothiazines trifluoperazine and chlorpromazine was measured in cultured embryonic chick myotubes by means of 125I-alpha-bungarotoxin. At drug concentrations of 5 to 10 X 10(-6) M, receptor appearance rate was significantly enhanced while receptor half-life, cellular protein, net protein synthesis rate, and acetylcholinesterase levels were not similarly affected. The sulfoxide derivatives were without effect. At concentrations of 3 X 10(-5) M and above, both trifluoperazine and chlorpromazine caused myotube contracture and cell loss. Drug combination experiments revealed that receptor stimulation caused by phenothiazines is overcome by low concentrations of veratridine and ryanodine, but not by membrane depolarization with 20 mM KCl. These results lend support to the role of calcium as an intracellular messenger in acetylcholine receptor synthesis regulation, but are difficult to reconcile with the notion that cytosolic calmodulin serves as the calcium receptor in this signaling pathway. Since the trifluoperazine effect resembles that caused by the calcium antagonist D-600, phenothiazines may stimulate receptor synthesis by blocking a voltage-gated calcium channel.