muscarinic
muscarinic Describing one of the two main classes of acetylcholine receptors, so called because the effect of acetylcholine on them can be mimicked by muscarine, a toxic alkaloid produced by Amanita muscaria and certain other gill fungi. Muscarinic receptors occur on target cells innervated by fibres of the vertebrate parasympathetic nervous system, for example in smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, and glands. They are G protein-coupled receptors, which activate ion channels via intracellular second messengers. Compare nicotinic.
More From encyclopedia.com
Ion Channels , Ion channels play a fundamental role in the way cells communicate. They generate the electrical signals that make hearts beat and muscles contract, a… Signal Transduction , To survive, an organism must constantly adjust its internal state to changes in the environment. To track environmental changes, the organism must re… Cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate , cyclic GMP (cGMP) Cyclic guanosine monophosphate: a derivative of the nucleotide guanosine triphosphate (GTP) that, like cyclic AMP, acts as a second… Neurochemistry , Neurochemistry refers to the chemical processes that occur in the brain and nervous system. The fact that one can read this text, remember what has b… Second Messenger , second messenger A chemical within a cell that is responsible for initiating the response to a signal from a chemical messenger (such as a hormone, n… Protein Targeting , Protein Targeting
Protein targeting refers to the methods cells use to get proteins to the proper location after synthesis. Proteins play a major rol…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
muscarinic