The effect of substance P on freshly dissociated gastric smooth muscle cells was examined electrophysiologically. Substance P caused depolarization, associated with a membrane conductance decrease, which led to the generation of action potentials and contraction. When the membrane potential was held constant under voltage clamp, substance P induced a net inward current, also associated with a conductance decrease. The net inward current resulted from suppression of an outward K+ current, one which resembled the acetylcholine-sensitive M-current in these cells. When substance P maximally suppressed this outward K+ current, acetylcholine (ACh) had no additional effect. Conversely, when ACh fully suppressed the M-current, substance P was without additional effect. These results indicate that substance P suppresses the same outward K+ current affected by ACh. Suppression of M-current by substance P was observed in approximately half (44 of 85) of the cells studied in these experiments. In those cells that did not respond to substance P, ACh was nevertheless capable of suppressing the M-current. Thus both substance P and cholinergic agonists appear to exert their excitatory effects on smooth muscle cells by inhibiting a common K+ current.
Acetylcholine Action Potentials