Voltage‐dependent inhibition of the muscarinic cationic current in guinea‐pig ileal cells by SK&F 96365

The effects of SK&F 96365 on cationic current evoked either by activating muscarinic receptors with carbachol or by intracellularly applied GTPγS (in the absence of carbachol) were studied using patch‐clamp recording techniques in single guinea‐pig ileal smooth muscle cells. SK&F 96365 reversibly inhibited the muscarinic receptor cationic current in a concentration‐, time‐ and voltage‐dependent manner producing concomitant alteration of the steady‐state I‐V relationship shape which could be explained by assuming that increasing membrane positivity increased the affinity of the blocker. The inhibition was similar for both carbachol‐ and GTPγS‐evoked currents suggesting that the cationic channel rather than the muscarinic receptor was the primary site of the SK&F 96365 action. Increased membrane positivity induced additional rapid inhibition of the cationic current by SK&F 96365 which was more slowly relieved during membrane repolarization. Both the inhibition and disinhibition time course could be well fitted by a single exponential function with the time constants decreasing with increasing positivity for the inhibition (e‐fold per about 12 mV) and approximately linearly decreasing with increasing negativity for the disinhibition. At a constant SK&F 96365 concentration, the degree of cationic current inhibition was a sigmoidal function of the membrane potential with a potential of half‐maximal increase positive to about +30 mV and a slope factor of about −13 mV. Increasing the duration of voltage steps at −80 or at 80 mV, increased the percentage inhibition; the degree of inhibition was almost identical at both potentials providing evidence that the same cationic channel was responsible for the cationic current both at negative and at positive potentials. It is concluded that the distinctive and unique mode of SK&F 96365 action on the muscarinic receptor cationic channel is a valuable tool in future molecular biology studies of this channel. British Journal of Pharmacology (2000) 129, 695–702; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0703115