Journal
CHEMICO-BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS
Volume 187, Issue 1-3, Pages 115-119Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2010.03.007
Keywords
Non-neuronal cholinergic; Acetylcholine; Agonists; Embryonic stem cells; Drug effects; Cell vitality
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Acetylcholine (ACh) has always been regarded as a classical neurotransmitter that binds to nicotinic or muscarinic receptors and mediates signal transmission. The traditional view, that ACh acts solely as a neurotransmitter, has to be revised based on numerous findings demonstrating the existence of a non-neuronal cholinergic system. It is noteworthy that murine and human embryonic stem cells also synthesize ACh and express the enzyme acetylcholinesterase and muscarinic ACh receptors. Here, we investigated the possible role of ACh and AChRs in the regulation of embryonic stem cells. First, the expression of alpha 3, alpha 4, alpha 7 and beta 2 nicotinic receptor subunits in embryonic stem cells was investigated by RT-PCR. Second, in vitro studies have been conducted to assess the effects of ACh and its agonists on calcium dynamics, cell survival and proliferation. ACh and nicotine, but not muscarine could induce the mobilization of the intracellular Ca2+.. Interestingly, ACh increased the viability, but decreased the proliferation of embryonic stem cells. Our data provide evidence that ACh might exert its effect on stem cells by binding to specific receptors and modulating cell death and proliferation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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