Aronstam_1982_Neurosci.Lett_28_51

Acetyldiethylcholine (AcDECh), a false transmitter at cholinergic synapses, binds to central muscarinic receptors with 14-fold lower affinity than acetylcholine (AcCh). The properties of this binding, including the limited extent of regional specificity and binding activation by N-ethylmaleimide, are those associated with weak agonists and antagonists. Intracerebroventricular injection of AcDECh or AcCh produces an increase in arterial blood pressure which is blocked by prior administration of atropine (10 nmol). While AcDECh is 17-fold less potent tha AcCh in producing the pressor response, the maximum pressure changes and time courses are comparable. AcDECh also binds to nicotinic receptors of Torpedo electric organs thereby inducing conformational changes in the receptor-ion channel complex that are associated with postsynaptic activation. In these nicotinic actions, however, AcDECh is 320-fold less active than AcCh.