Anatoxin-a is a potent agonist of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor of bovine adrenal chromaffin cells.

(+)-Anatoxin-a is a neurotoxic alkaloid produced by the cyanobacterium Anabaena flos-aquae. In this study synthetic (+/-)-anatoxin-a was tested on isolated bovine adrenal chromaffin cells to determine its ability to evoke secretion of endogenous catecholamines through neuronal-type nicotinic receptor activation. Anatoxin-a was found to act as a potent agonist of the secretory response of chromaffin cells with an EC50 of 1-2 microM, compared with an EC50 of 4-5 microM for nicotine. The cells responded to anatoxin-a and nicotine with bell-shaped concentration-response curves consistent with desensitisation at concentrations of anatoxin-a greater than 5 microM and of nicotine greater than 20 microM. The secretion of catecholamines stimulated by anatoxin-a was completely inhibited in a non-competitive manner by the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine with an IC50 of 0.4-0.5 microM. In the presence of depolarising concentrations of K+ (15 or 50 mM), anatoxin-a increased the secretion of catecholamines in a concentration-dependent manner up to the same maximum as that achieved by anatoxin-a alone. It is concluded that anatoxin-a acts as a potent and selective nicotinic agonist, capable of evoking secretion of endogenous catecholamines from chromaffin cells via their neuronal-type nicotinic receptor.