Form of Muscarinic Receptors
Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors belong to a class of metabotropic receptors that use G proteins as their signalling mechanism. In such receptors, the signaling molecule (the ligand) binds to a receptor that has seven transmembrane regions; in this case, the ligand is ACh. This receptor is bound to intracellular proteins, known as G proteins, which begin the information cascade within the cell.
By contrast, nicotinic receptors use a ligand-gated ion channel mechanism for signaling. In this case, binding of the ligands with the receptor causes an ion channel to open, permitting either one or more specific type(s) of ion (e.g., K+, Na+, Ca+2) to diffuse into or out of the cell.
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