Generation of mammalian cell lines that stably express rat neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor sub-types

The pharmacological properties of nicotine, including its addictive properties, are mediated by neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR). Long-term administration of nicotine increases the number of nicotinic receptor binding sites in rat and mouse brain (Marks & Collins, 1983, Schwartz & Kellar, 1983), suggesting that nicotine can trigger neuronal changes in nicotinic receptors that might be related to or even underlie addiction and/or tolerance. Support for this idea came from studies of autopsied human brain samples, which showed that the density of nicotinic receptors in smokers is markedly higher than in non-smokers (Benwell et al., 1988; Breese et al., 1997).