The uptake of [32P]phosphate into phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidate was measured in synaptosomes incubated in Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer, pH7.4. The apparent dissociation constants for acetylcholine and carbamoylcholine was estimated from the increase in 32P uptake caused by these agents. These apparent constants were similar for both phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidate and were 2.7 +/- 0.5 MICROmeter for acetylcholine and 12 +/- 2 micrometer for carbamoylcholine when Ca2+ concentration was 0.75 mM. Under the same conditions the inhibition of the carbamoylcholine-induced increase in 32P uptake, caused by atropine, is consistent with atropine being a competitive inhibitor, with an apparent inhibition constant of 0.35 +/- 0.05 micrometer. The apparent constants were dependent on the Ca2+ concentration, and were greater in 2.54 mM-Ca2+. The former values for the kinetic constants are similar to the muscarinic-receptor dissociation constant, which indicates that the binding of the agonist to the receptor may be rate-limiting in this series of reactions when the Ca2+ concentration is 0.75 mM.
