Stimulation of acid secretion and phosphoinositol production by rat parietal cell muscarinic M2 receptors.

The muscarinic receptor system involved in hydrogen ion production by enriched rat gastric parietal cells was investigated. Muscarinic receptor density determined by [N-methyl-3H]scopolamine binding was 8,100/cell. The receptor appeared to be of the M2 muscarinic receptor subtype, since it had a low affinity (Kd, 189 nM) for the M1 receptor antagonist pirenzepine compared with atropine (Kd, 0.74 nM). Receptor activation by carbachol rapidly augmented levels of polyphosphoinositides, indicating an activation of a phospholipase C. The dose-response relations for the increase in inositol phosphates closely paralleled the binding of carbachol to muscarinic receptors with a Km of 17 microM. The inositol phosphate response was antagonized by pirenzepine with a Ki of 177 nM. The stimulation of inositol phosphate levels by carbachol correlated well with the stimulation of [14C]aminopyrine uptake, determined as an index of acid secretion. The muscarinic agonists oxotremorine, pilocarpine, and bethanechol elicited partial increases in inositol phosphates at maximal drug concentrations, and these partial increases correlated with their ability to stimulate [14C]aminopyrine uptake. These data indicate that inositol polyphosphates may be a second messenger of M2 receptors stimulating acid secretion.