Desensitization of human muscarinic acetylcholine receptor m2 subtypes is caused by their...

Desensitization of human muscarinic acetylcholine receptor m2 subtypes (hm2 receptors) stably expressed in chinese hamster ovary cells was measured as decreases in the carbamylcholine-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding activity in membrane preparations after pre-treatment of cells with carbamylcholine. The extent of carbamylcholine-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding activity was found to decrease to 64% following pretreatment of cells with 10 microM carbamylcholine for 30 min, and under the same conditions 51-59% of hm2 receptors were sequestered/internalized as assessed by decreases in the [3H]N-methylscopolamine binding activity on the cell surface. A similar reduction in the carbamylcholine-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding activity was observed by pretreatment of cells with 5 nM propylbenzylylcholine mustard, which irreversibly bound to and inactivated 58% of the hm2 receptors. When the cells were pretreated with 10 microM carbamylcholine in the presence of 0.32 M sucrose, which is known to inhibit clathrin-mediated endocytosis, no sequestration/internalization of hm2 receptors was observed, and the extent of carbamylcholine-stimulated [35S]GTPgammaS binding activity did not change. These results indicate that desensitization of hm2 receptors may be caused by reduction of receptor number on the cell surface through sequestration/internalization rather than by loss of the function of receptors.