Soluble and membrane-bound muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.

Three muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes may be defined on the basis of functional and binding studies using selective antagonists. The subtypes may be solubilized in a stable form in digitonin. In solution, the subclasses still exhibit different structure-binding relationships but these have been perturbed by solubilization. The binding of the selective antagonist, pirenzepine, to the purified cortical receptor is complex and similar to that found in membranes. The muscarinic receptor subclasses thus appear to be different molecular entities. Possible explanations for the molecular heterogeneity are discussed. It has also been possible to solubilize receptor-GTP binding protein complexes which have higher sedimentation coefficients (13.4 S) than the apparently monomeric receptor (11.6 S).