Effect of $K^+-channel$ Blockers on the Muscarinic- and $A_1-adenosine-Receptor$ Coupled Regulation of Electrically Evoked Acetylcholine Release in the Rat Hippocampus

It was attempted to clarify the participation of $K^+-channels$ in the post-receptor mechanisms of the muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptor- mediated control of acetylcholine (ACh) release in the present study. Slices from the rat hippocampus were equilibrated with $[^3H]$choline and the release of the labelled products was evoked by electrical stimulation (3 Hz, 5 V/cm, 2 ms, rectangular pulses), and the influence of various agents on the evoked tritium-outflow was investigated. Oxotremorine (Oxo, $0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), a muscarinic agonist, and $N^6-cyclopentyladenosine$ (CPA, $1{\sim}30\;{\mu}M$), a specific $A_1-adenosine$ agonist, decreased the ACh release in a dose-dependent manner, without affecting the basal rate of release. 4-aminopyridine (4AP), a specific A-type $K^+-channel$ blocker ($1{\sim}100\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-related fashion, and the basal rate of release is increased by 3 and $100\;{\mu}M$. Tetraethylammonium (TEA), a non-specific $K^+-channel$ blocker ($0.1{\sim}10\;{\mu}M$), increased the evoked ACh release in a dose-dependent manner without affecting the basal release. The effects of Oxo and CPA were not affected by $3\;{\mu}M$ 4AP co-treatment, but 10 mM TEA significantly inhibited the effects of Oxo and CPA. 4AP ($10\;{\mu}M$)- and TEA (10 mM)-induced increments of evoked ACh release were completely abolished in Ca^{2+}-free$ medium, but these were recoverd in low Ca^{2+}$ medium. And the effects of $K^+-channel$ blockers in low Ca^{2+}$ medium were inhibited by $Mg^{2+}$ (4 mM) and abolished by $0.3\;{\mu}M$ tetrodotoxin (TTX). These results suggest that the changes in TEA-sensitive potassium channel permeability and the consequent limitation of Ca^{2+}$ influx are partly involved in the presynaptic modulation of the evoked ACh-release by muscarinic and $A_1-adenosine$ receptors of the rat hippocampus.