| Abstract: | Three clones of somatic cell hybrids between neuroblastoma and L cells, NL-1F, NL-308 and NL-309 (3), have been studied for their electrical excitability and chemosensitivity to acetylcholine (Ach) applied by iontophoresis. Parental and hybrid lines were all treated and tested in media containing mM db-cAMP. The percentage of excitable N X L hybrid cells was as high or higher than that of their neuroblastoma parents. The percentage of cells sensitive to Ach was several-fold higher for the three N X L clones than for the neuroblastoma or L cell parents. While the neuroblastoma parents gave only depolarizing cholinergic responses, the N X L hybrid cells displayed slow hyperpolarizing (H) responses which resembled the H-cholinergic response obtained from L cells. The H-response of the N X L hybrids has properties which indicate the involvement of a muscarinic receptor. A correlation between expression of muscarinic receptors and excitability to electrical current (i.e., action potential ionophores), not found in the neuroblastoma parents, was present in the hybrids. However, a few N X L hybrid cells expressed muscarinic receptors independently from electrical excitability, as is the case for the L cell parent. The three N X L clones are discussed as potentially useful models to study interaction of Ach with muscarinic receptors. |
