In the present study, we demonstrate that choline, a precursor of acetylcholine (ACh) and a product of acetylcholine hydrolysis by acetylcholinesterase (AChE), acts as an efficient and relatively selective agonist of alpha7-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) in neurons cultured from the rat hippocampus, olfactory bulb and thalamus as well as in PC12 cells. Choline was able to activate postsynaptic and presynaptic alpha7 nAChRs, with the latter action resulting in the release of other neurotransmitters. Although choline was approximately one order of magnitude less potent than ACh (EC50 of 1.6 mM for choline and 0.13 mM for ACh), it acted as a full agonist at alpha7 nAChRs. In contrast, choline did not activate alpha4beta2 agonist-bearing nAChRs on hippocampal neurons, and acted as a partial agonist at alpha3beta4-containing nAChRs on PC12 cells. The ethyl alcohol moiety of choline is required for the selective action on alpha7 nAChR. Exposure of cultured hippocampal neurons for 10 min to choline (10-100 microM) resulted in desensitization of the native alpha7 nAChRs. Moreover, chronic exposure (10 days) of the cultured hippocampal neurons to a desensitizing concentration of choline (approximately 30 microM) decreased their responsiveness to ACh. The selective action of choline on native alpha7 nAChRs suggests that this naturally occurring compound may act in vivo as an endogenous ligand for these receptors. Putative physiological actions of choline include retrograde messenger activity during the development of the mammalian central nervous system and during periods of elevated synaptic activity that leads to long-term potentiation.

We demonstrated previously that human skin keratinocytes express acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) sensitive to acetylcholine and nicotine, which regulate cell adhesion and motility. We demonstrate here that human and rodent bronchial epithelial cells (BECs) express AChRs similar to those expressed by keratinocytes and by some neurons. Patch-clamp experiments demonstrated that the BEC AChRs are functional, and they are activated by acetylcholine and nicotine. They are blocked by kappa-bungarotoxin, a specific antagonist of the AChR isotypes expressed by neurons in ganglia. Their ion-gating properties are consistent with those of AChR isotypes expressed in ganglia, formed by alpha3, alpha5, and beta2 or beta4 subunits. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization experiments demonstrated the presence in BECs of mRNA transcripts for all those AChR subunits, both in cell cultures and in tissue sections, whereas we could not detect transcripts for the alpha2, alpha4, alpha6, and beta3 AChR subunits. The expression of alpha3 and alpha5 proteins in BEC in vivo was verified by the binding of subunit-specific antibodies to sections of trachea. Mecamylamine and kappa-bungarotoxin, which are cholinergic antagonists able to block the ganglionic alpha3 AChRs, caused a reversible change of the cell shape of cultured, confluent human BECs. This resulted in a reduction of the area covered by the cell and in cell/cell detachment. The presence of AChRs sensitive to nicotine on the lining of the airways raises the possibility that the high concentrations of nicotine resulting from tobacco smoking will cause an abnormal activation, a desensitization, or both of the bronchial AChRs. This may mediate or facilitate some of the toxic effects of cigarette smoking in the respiratory system.