Extrasynaptic acetylcholine signaling through a muscarinic receptor regulates cell migration
Mihoko Kato, Irina Kolotuev, Alexandre Cunha, Shahla Gharib, Paul W. Sternberg
Abstract
Significance Although ACh is best known for its role in neurotransmission, it also plays a role in cell migration. ACh promotes various cell migrations in vitro, but little is known how it affects cell migration inside an organism where multiple environmental cues are involved. We investigated the migration of an epithelial cell in C. elegans , the gonad leader cell, which expresses a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor. This leader cell migrates closely along the animal’s nerve cords and uses ACh secreted from cholinergic neurons. The muscarinic receptor helps the leader cell stay on its migratory path, but its overactivation causes a reversal in cell orientation. The leader cell may use the muscarinic receptor to adjust its orientation to stay on its migratory path.