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Acetylcholine receptor conformational transition on excitation masks disulphide bonds against reduction

Nature volume 270, pages 71–73 (1977)Cite this article

Abstract

KARLIN and Bartels1 found that dithiothreitol (DTT) inhibits the responses induced by acetylcholine (ACh) in the Electrophorus electricus electroplax preparation and that 5,5′-dithio-bis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) completely restored the membrane sensitivity to ACh. These results illustrate the importance of disulphide bonds for acetylcholine receptor (AChR) function, and work on other preparations with nicotinic AChRs gave similar results2–9. Several facts suggest that DTT affects AChRs specifically; (1), the significance of the quaternary ammonium group in the molecules of alkylating and acylating agents for the rate of their reaction with the AChR reduced by DTT10; (2) changes in pharmacological specificity seen in the modified receptor5,7,10;(3) the decrease in the slope of the dose–response curve to carbamylcholine expressed as the Hillplot11; and (4) the increase in d-tubocurarine affinity to the AChR active site5. If we could protect the receptor against chemical modification by an agonist or antagonist, this would be the most reliable proof of the specificity of modifying agent action12. We present here a detailed study of the action of DTT on nicotinic AChRs of completely isolated Limnaea stagnalis neurones in order to clarify the ability of various cholinergic ligands to protect the receptor disulphide bonds against reduction by DTT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Physics, USSR Academy of Science, Pushchino Moscow region, 142292, USSR

    P. D. BREGESTOVSKI, V. I. ILJIN, OLGA P. JURCHENKO, B. N. VEPRINTSEV & CATHERINE A. VULFIUS

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  1. P. D. BREGESTOVSKI
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  2. V. I. ILJIN
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  3. OLGA P. JURCHENKO
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  5. CATHERINE A. VULFIUS
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BREGESTOVSKI, P., ILJIN, V., JURCHENKO, O. et al. Acetylcholine receptor conformational transition on excitation masks disulphide bonds against reduction. Nature 270, 71–73 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270071a0

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