Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: DrugBank:EXPT02427 (Atropine)
 3,300 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The temporal relationships among increases in adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) levels, myosin dephosphorylation, and relaxation were investigated to clarify the mechanisms of airway muscle relaxation. Canine tracheal muscles isometrically contracted (82% of maximum force) with 10(-6) M methacholine were relaxed by adding either 4 x 10(-7) M atropine or 4 x 10(-5) M forskolin. Atropine had no effect on cAMP levels; myosin phosphorylation and force, however, decayed at the same rates and these two parameters returned to their basal pre-methacholine levels within 5 min. Forskolin treatment results in about a 10-fold increase in cAMP levels; myosin phosphorylation and force decayed simultaneously to their respective steady-state levels by 10 min but neither parameter returned to its pre-methacholine level. The addition of forskolin to muscles maximally contracted with 10(-4) M methacholine leads to about a 30-fold increase in cAMP levels. However, there are minimal decreases in myosin phosphorylation and force in these muscles. Thus myosin dephosphorylation appears to be essential for airway muscle relaxation, whereas an increase in cAMP in the absence of myosin dephosphorylation is insufficient to cause relaxation. Moreover, myosin dephosphorylation appears to be a common step in the cAMP-independent and cAMP-dependent mechanisms for airway muscle relaxation.
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PMID:cAMP, myosin dephosphorylation, and isometric relaxation of airway smooth muscle. 283 54

The Ca dependence of contraction and myosin phosphorylation was investigated in canine tracheal smooth muscle stimulated with carbachol, K or serotonin. Previous studies of tracheal muscle showed carbachol concentration-response curves for contraction and myosin phosphorylation were superposable. In contrast, there was a striking difference in the Ca++ sensitivities of tension and myosin phosphorylation when Ca++ concentration-response curves were constructed in the presence of 10(-7) M carbachol. Significant phosphorylation (greater than 0.3 moles phosphate/mole 20,000 dalton myosin light chain) was observed in the absence of active tension. In the present study, carbachol (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) and serotonin (10(-5) M) also induced significant myosin phosphorylation in low Ca++ solutions (0-0.025 mM CaCl2) without proportional increases in tension. K+ depolarization in Ca++-free physiological salt solution (60 mM KCl, 10(-6) M atropine) yielded phosphorylation not significantly different from basal levels. All stimulants induced active stress after readmission of Ca. The Ca++ dependence curve for myosin phosphorylation in muscles stimulated with carbachol was shifted up and to the left of the force curve. Atropine (10(-6) M) significantly reduced phosphorylation induced by carbachol in Ca++-free solutions, as did 3 X 10(-6) M nifedipine and 10 mM ethylene glycol bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid. Phorbol 12-myristate, 13-acetate or phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate did not increase basal phosphorylation or phosphorylation in low Ca++ solutions, suggesting that protein kinase C did not phosphorylate myosin in this case. Myosin phosphorylation under these conditions is not sufficient to support contraction, and is reduced by treatments that decrease Ca++ entry.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Dissociation of myosin phosphorylation and active tension during muscarinic stimulation of tracheal smooth muscle. 310 Jul 73

The role of acetylcholine receptors in the control of chick myoblast fusion in culture has been explored. Spontaneous fusion of myoblasts was inhibited by the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists alpha-bungarotoxin, Naja naja toxin and monoclonal antibody mcAb 5.5. The muscarinic antagonists QNB and n-methyl scopolamine were without effect. Atropine had no effect below 1 microM, where it blocks muscarinic receptors; at higher concentrations, when it blocks nicotinic receptors also, atropine inhibited myoblast fusion. The inhibitions imposed by acetylcholine receptor antagonists lasted for approximately 12 h; fusion stimulated by other endogenous substances then took over. The inhibition was limited to myoblast fusion. The increases in cell number, DNA content, the level of creatine phosphokinase activity (both total and muscle-specific isozyme) and the appearance of heavy chain myosin, which accompany muscle differentiation, followed a normal time course. Pre-fusion myoblasts, fusing myoblasts, and young myotubes specifically bound labeled alpha-bungarotoxin, indicating the presence of acetylcholine receptors. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist, carbachol, induced uptake of [14C]Guanidinium through the acetylcholine receptor. Myoblasts, aligned myoblasts and young myotubes expressed the synthetic enzyme Choline acetyltransferase and stained positively with antibodies against acetylcholine. The appearance of ChAT activity in myogenic cultures was prevented by treatment with BUDR; nonmyogenic cells in the cultures expressed ChAT at a level which was too low to account for the activity in myogenic cultures. We conclude that activation of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is part of the mechanism controlling spontaneous myoblast fusion and that myoblasts synthesize an endogenous, fusion-inducing agent that activates the nicotinic ACh receptor.
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PMID:A role for acetylcholine receptors in the fusion of chick myoblasts. 337 92

We tested the hypothesis that the negative inotropic effect (NIE) of cocaine is mediated, at least in part, by cholinergic stimulation and can be correlated with the degree of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) dependency of the inotropic state. Cardiac myocytes were isolated from left ventricles of ferrets and loaded with the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator indo 1. Cells were placed in physiological solution containing 2.0 mM Ca2+ and stimulated at 0.5 Hz and 30 degrees C. Cocaine decreased peak cell shortening and peak intracellular Ca2+ in a concentration-dependent manner (10(-8)-10(-4) M). The concentration-response curve of cocaine was shifted significantly downward compared with those of lidocaine and procaine in the same range of concentrations. Atropine (10(-6) M) shifted the concentration-response curve of cocaine, but not those of lidocaine and procaine, rightward, with a pA2 value (7.66) similar to that obtained with carbachol (7.99). With prior addition of isoproterenol (ISO, 10(-8) M) or increased Ca2+ (4.0 mM) to increase cell shortening to the same degree (approximately 60%), cocaine and carbachol decreased contractility to a significantly greater extent in ISO-stimulated myocytes. To clarify whether these treatments changed responsiveness of the contractile elements to Ca2+, the effect of 2,3-butanedione monoxime, an agent that interferes with the interaction of myosin and actin, was tested with previous addition of ISO or increased Ca2+, and no differential effect occurred. Therefore, we postulate that 1) the NIE of cocaine on myocytes is caused by decreased Ca2+ availability; 2) this effect is due to specific stimulation of cholinergic receptors in addition to other direct myocardial (probably local anesthetic) effects; and 3) the NIE correlates with the level of cAMP dependence of the inotropic state.
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PMID:Cholinergic stimulation modulates negative inotropic effect of cocaine on ferret ventricular myocardium. 877 45

This study examined the physiological effects and potential mechanisms of action of methylecgonidine (MEG), the major pyrolysis product from smoking "crack cocaine," on cardiac function. Ferret right ventricular papillary muscles and human ventricular trabeculae were isolated and placed in a physiological solution at 30 degrees C containing 2.5 mM Ca2+ and stimulated at 0.33 Hz. MEG decreased peak tension and peak intracellular Ca2+ transients in a concentration-dependent manner (10 microM-1 mM). The negative inotropic effect (NIE) of MEG was reversible by atropine (1 microM). Atropine shifted the concentration-response curve of MEG rightward (pA2 = 9.17) similar to that of carbachol (pA2 = 8.70). With prior addition of histamine (1 microM) and Ca2+ (4.5 mM) in equiinotropic concentrations, MEG and carbachol decreased contractility to a greater extent in the histamine-stimulated muscles. To clarify whether the treatments altered responsiveness of the contractile elements to Ca2+, the effect of 2,3-butanedione monoxime (BDM), an agent that interferes with the interaction of actin and myosin, was tested after prior addition of histamine or increased Ca2+. No differential effect occurred. Moreover, the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME; 0.1 mM), lessened the NIE of MEG compared with prior (pre-L-NAME) values. Furthermore, in human ventricular trabeculae (n = 7), MEG exhibited an NIE that was also reversible by atropine. We concluded that the NIE of MEG is caused by decreased calcium availability; the effect is not the result of a local anesthetic action but is mediated by stimulation of cholinergic receptors. This effect is potentiated by the nitric oxide pathway.
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PMID:Negative inotropic effect of methylecgonidine, a major product of cocaine base pyrolysis, on ferret and human myocardium. 930 Mar 20