Muscarinic cholinergic receptors in pancreatic acinar carcinoma of rat.

Abstract

The active enantiomer of tritiated quinuclidinyl benzilate (3H(-)QNB) was used as a ligand to evaluate the muscarinic receptors. The 3H(-)QNB binding characteristics of muscarinic cholinergic receptors obtained from normal and neoplastic tissues were studied to determine changes in receptor properties during neoplastic transformation. Saturable and stereospecific binding sites for 3H(-)QNB are present in homogenates of rat pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The proportions of high- and low-affinity agonist binding sites are similar for neoplastic and normal tissues. The density of muscarinic receptors is higher in neoplastic (200 femtomoles/mg protein) than in normal pancreatic homogenates (80 femtomoles/mg protein). The muscarinic binding sites of the neoplastic and fetal pancreas show similar KD values which are higher than those observed for normal pancreas.