Cholinergic regulation of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels in porcine tracheal smooth muscle cells.

To investigate cholinergic regulation of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCs) in airway smooth muscle, we measured inward currents through VDCs in enzymatically dispersed porcine tracheal smooth muscle cells using conventional (10 mM Ca2+ as charge carrier) and nystatin-perforated (5 mM Ba2+ as charge carrier) whole cell patch clamp techniques. Carbachol (CCh) had significant and dose-dependent inhibitory effects on inward currents (12% with 10(-7) M and 42% with 10(-6) M) in perforated whole cell clamp experiments, but had no effect on currents in conventional whole cell experiments. CCh also shifted the steady-state inactivation curve to more negative potentials. Further experiments tested the hypothesis that CCh inhibits VDCs in part by the activation of protein kinase C (PKC). Phorbol 12,13-diacetate, an exogenous PKC activator, inhibited currents through VDCs. and calphostin C, a specific PKC inhibitor, antagonized the inhibitory effect of CCh. Furthermore, intracellular exposure to the activating PKC fragment 530-558, using a pipette perfusion technique, also inhibited currents through VDCs. We conclude that cholinergic receptor stimulation can inhibit inward Ca2+ currents through VDCs of porcine tracheal smooth muscle and that this effect may be mediated in part by activation of PKC.