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. 2019 Nov 7;20(22):5568. doi: 10.3390/ijms20225568

Figure 2.

Figure 2

The agonist (e.g., acetylcholine, carbachol, pilocarpine, etc.) binds muscarinic receptors. M1, M3, and M5 receptors couple the PLC signaling pathway with a stimulatory effect (+) that triggers intracellular calcium release (↑ Ca2+). M2 and M4 couple the AC signaling pathway with an inhibitory effect (-) that induces cAMP decrease (↓ cAMP). While non-tumorigenic ovarian cells have no response to cholinergic stimulation, in ovarian cancer cells the activation of muscarinic receptors determines the intracellular calcium release (↑ Ca2+) and has a mitogenic action.