The aminosteroid U-73122 inhibits muscarinic receptor sequestration and phosphoinositide hydrolysis in SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells. A role for Gp in receptor compartmentation.

The relationship between muscarinic receptor activation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis and the sequestration of cell surface muscarinic receptors has been examined for both intact and digitonin-permeabilized human SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells. Addition of the aminosteroid 1-[6-[[17 beta-3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-yl]amino] hexyl]-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione (U-73122) to intact cells resulted in the inhibition of oxotremorine-M-stimulated inositol phosphate release and of Ca2+ signaling by greater than 75%. In contrast, when phospholipase C was directly activated by the addition of the calcium ionophore ionomycin, inclusion of U-73122 had little inhibitory effect. Addition of U-73122 to intact cells also inhibited the agonist-induced sequestration of cell surface muscarinic receptors and their subsequent down-regulation with an IC50 value (4.1 microM) similar to that observed for inhibition of inositol phosphate release (3.7 microM). In contrast, when oxotremorine-M-stimulated phosphoinositide hydrolysis was inhibited by depletion of extracellular Ca2+, no reduction in the extent of receptor sequestration was observed. When introduced into digitonin-permeabilized cells, U-73122 more markedly inhibited inositol phosphate release elicited by either oxotremorine-M or guanosine-5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) than that induced by added Ca2+. Addition of oxotremorine-M to permeabilized cells resulted in muscarinic receptor sequestration and down-regulation. Both the loss of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors and activation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis in permeabilized cells were inhibited by the inclusion of guanosine-5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate). The results indicate that the agonist-induced sequestration of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor in SK-N-SH cells requires the involvement of a GTP-binding protein but not the production of phosphoinositide-derived second messenger molecules.