Contractile role of M2 and M3 muscarinic receptors in gastrointestinal smooth muscle

The contractile roles of the M2 and M3 muscarinic receptors were investigated in guinea pig longitudinal colonic smooth muscle. Prior treatment of the colon with N-(2-chloroethyl)-4-piperidinyl diphenylacetate (4-DAMP mustard) (40 nM) in com-bination with [[2-[(diethylamino)methyl]-1-piperidinyl]acetyl]-5,11-dihydro-6H-pyrido[2,3b][1,4]benzodiazepine-6-one (AF-DX 116) (1.0 mM) caused a subsequent, irreversible inhibi-tion of oxotremorine-M-induced contractions when measured after extensive washing. The estimate of the degree of receptor inactivation after 2 hr (97%) was not much greater than that measured after 1 hr (95%), which suggests that both 4-DAMP mustard-sensitive and-insensitive muscarinic subtypes con-tribute to the contractile response. Pertussis toxin treatment had no significant inhibitory effect on the control contractil