Ethanol enhances agonist-induced fast desensitization in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

The reversible decline of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor's response to acetylcholine during prolonged exposure to acetylcholine is known as desensitization. Here, we studied ethanol's modulation of fast agonist-induced desensitization of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in postsynaptic membrane vesicles from Torpedo using a fast kinetic technique: pulsed quenched flow. Preincubation of the vesicles with various concentrations of acetylcholine at 4 degrees C for times ranging from 80 ms to 1.5 s caused fast desensitization, which was revealed as a decreased 86Rb+ influx when the vesicles were subsequently briefly exposed to a saturating concentration of acetylcholine in 86RbCl. Acetylcholine-induced fast desensitization had a maximum observed rate, kdmax, of 6.8 s-1, a half-effect concentration, KD, of 157 microM, and a Hill coefficient of 1.4. Increasing the ethanol concentration up to 1.0 M causes a linear increase in kdmax, such that 1.0 M ethanol doubles the rate. Ethanol (1 M) also decreased KD 10-fold without changing the Hill coefficient. We consider a modified sequential model to interpret our data. Two acetylcholine molecules bind sequentially to the receptor's resting state to form a pre-open (closed) state, which then opens and, at very high acetylcholine concentrations, is inhibited. A priori fast desensitization might occur from any of these acetylcholine-occupied states. If we assume fast desensitization to occur solely from the pre-open state, our data predict an excessively large action of ethanol on the fast desensitization rate constant (> 200-fold increase in the desensitization rate constant at 1 M ethanol). When we assume fast desensitization to occur from all states, ethanol is seen to have two actions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)