PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mao, Danyan
AU  - Yasuda, Robert P.
AU  - Fan, Hong
AU  - Wolfe, Barry B.
AU  - Kellar, Kenneth J.
TI  - Heterogeneity of Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptors in Rat Superior Cervical and Nodose Ganglia
AID  - 10.1124/mol.106.027458
DP  - 2006 Nov 01
TA  - Molecular Pharmacology
PG  - 1693--1699
VI  - 70
IP  - 5
4099  - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/70/5/1693.short
4100  - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/70/5/1693.full
SO  - Mol Pharmacol2006 Nov 01; 70
AB  - Nicotinic cholinergic receptors (nAChRs) are present in ganglia in the peripheral nervous system. In autonomic ganglia, they are responsible for fast synaptic transmission, whereas in the sensory ganglia and sensory neurons, they may be involved in modulation of neurotransmission. The present study measured nAChRs in several rat autonomic ganglia: the superior cervical ganglia (SCG), sensory nodose ganglia, stellate ganglia, and pelvic ganglia. The densities of the heteromeric nAChRs determined by receptor binding assay in those four ganglia are 481, 45, 9, and 11 fmol/mg protein, respectively. Immunoprecipitation studies with subunit-specific antibodies showed that a majority of the nAChRs in the SCG and nodose ganglia contain the α3 and β4 subunits, but a significant percentage of the nAChRs in these ganglia also contain α5 and β2 subunits. A small percentage of the nAChRs in nodose ganglia also contain α2 and α4 subunits. Sequential immunoprecipitation assays indicated that in the SCG, all α5 subunits are associated with α3 and β4 subunits, forming the mixed heteromeric α3β4α5 subtype. A receptor composed of α3, β2, and β4 subunits in the SCG was also detected. In rat SCG, we found the following distribution of nAChRs subtypes: 55 to 60% simple α3β4 subtype, 25 to 30% α3β4α5 subtype, and 10 to 15% α3β4β2 subtype. These findings indicate that the nAChRs in SCG and nodose ganglia are heterogeneous, which suggests that different receptor subtypes may play different roles in these ganglia or may be activated under different conditions. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics