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. 1973 Oct;70(10):2902–2905. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.10.2902

Regulation of Acetylcholine Receptors in Relation to Acetylcholinesterase in Neuroblastoma Cells

Rabi Simantov 1, Leo Sachs 1
PMCID: PMC427135  PMID: 4517944

Abstract

Purified α-toxin from Naja nigricollis snake venom labeled by [3H]acetylation binds specifically to the acetylcholine receptors of mouse neuroblastoma cells. Toxin binding was inhibited by inhibitors for nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Clones of neuroblastoma cells were selected for low acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) activity with antibodies against this enzyme. Selection for an 80-fold decrease in acetylcholinesterase activity was not associated with any decrease in the number of acetylcholine receptors (3.4 × 107 per cell). Removal or inactivation of 80% of the acetylcholine receptors by proteolytic enzymes or by compounds that block sulfhydryl groups did not change the activity of acetylcholinesterase on the cell surface. In addition to these results on the separation between acetylcholine receptors and acetylcholinesterase, a common regulation was found in that both the number of acetylcholine receptors and the activity of acetylcholinesterase were increased 5- to 10-fold when the cells stopped to multiply or were induced to differentiate by dibutyryl-cyclic AMP. It is suggested that there are different genes for the acetylcholine receptor and acetylcholinesterase, and that both are regulated during growth and differentiation by a common regulatory gene.

Keywords: Naja nigricollis snake venom, proteolytic enzymes, sulfhydryl group-blocking compounds

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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