Characterization of muscarinic cholinergic receptor subtypes in rat prostate

The purpose of this study was to characterize the muscarinic receptor subtypes in the individual lobes of the rat prostate. Immunoprecipitation was performed on homogenates of these 3 lobes using antibodies to the m1-m4 muscarinic receptor subtypes. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays (RT-PCR) were also performed using primers specific for each of the five muscarinic receptor subtypes (m1-m5). The susceptibility of the receptors to degradation by endogenous prostate proteases was assessed by mixing rat ventral prostate with rat heart (m2) and rat parotid (m3) prior to immunoprecipitation. In the ventral lobe, transcripts for the m1-m4 subtypes were amplified whereas in the dorsal and lateral lobes only the m2 and m3 sets of primers amplified PCR products of the predicted size. Immunoprecipitation of the ventral lobe resulted in predominantly m3 receptors, while the majority of receptors immunoprecipitated from lateral and dorsal lobes were the m2 subtype. The m3 muscarinic subtype was apparently susceptible to degradation by prostate proteases whereas the m2 subtype was not. These results demonstrate a regional distribution in the subtypes of muscarinic receptors in the rat prostate, and a greater susceptibility of the m3 receptor to degradation during immunoprecipitation than the m2 subtype.