Development of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in chick embryo sympathetic ganglia.

The ontogeny of the quinuclidinylbenzilate/muscarinic acetylcholine receptor was studied in sympathetic ganglia of chick embryos. Receptors were first detectable by day 11 in ovo and major increases in the total receptor number appeared between days 15 and 19 in ovo. By the latter time, a plateau level was reached on the order of 12 fmol/100 ganglia. These results are discussed in relation to the development of other parameters in chick sympathetic ganglia.