Five sub types of muscarinic receptors have been identified by pharmacological and molecular biological methods. The muscarinic receptor subtype mediating acid secretion at the level of the parietal cell was unknown. Therefore, this study was performed to characterize muscarinic receptors on rat gastric parietal cells using the 3 subtype-selective antagonists hexahydrosiladifenidol and silahexocyclium, which have high affinity for glandular M3 subtypes, and AF-DX 116, which has high affinity to cardiac M2 receptors. The affinity of these antagonists was determined by radio ligand binding experiments. In addition, their inhibitory potency on carbachol-stimulated inositol phosphate production was investigated. Inhibition of carbachol-stimulated aminopyrine uptake was used as an indirect measure of proton production. Hoth M3 antagonists, hexahydrosiladifenidol and silahexocyclium, had nanomolar affinities for parietal cell muscarinic receptors and potently antagonized inositol phosphate production with nanomolar Ki values. Silahexocyclium similarly antagonized aminopyrine accumulation while hexahydrosiladifenidol behaved as a noncompetitive antagonist. AF-DX 116 was a low-affinity ligand and a weak competitive antagonist at parietal-cell mus carinic receptors. It was concIuded that muscarinic M3 receptors mediate acid secretion probably by activation of the phosphoinositide second messenger system in rat gastric parietal cells. M uscarinic cholinergic receptors have originaIly been subclassified by their different affinities for the nonclassical muscarinic antagonist pirenzepine (1,2), which has high affinity for neuronal Ml and low affinity for non-Ml receptors. Based on molecular cloning of muscarinic receptors, there is now evidence for 5 different subclasses (3-5). Antagonists such as AF-DX 116 (6) were more potent in antagonizing muscarinic actions in cardiac M2 than in smooth muscle M3 (previously termed M2ß) receptors. Compounds such as hexahydrosiladifenidol (HHSiD) and silahexocyclium (SiHC] possess 10-30-fold higher affinity for smooth muscle and glandular M3 than cardiac M2-receptor subtypes (7,8).We have previously analyzed the radioligand binding properties of muscarinic M2 receptors in homogenates of porcine gastric mucosa (9). These data showed that HHSiD had high affinity (Kd = 3 nM) to the majority of mucosal receptors while AF-DX 116 had low affinity (Kd = 3000 nM) compatible with the M3 subtype. However, approximately 250/0 of the binding sites in mucosa had low affinity for HHSiD, suggesting the presence of a second subtype of muscarinic receptors. Muscarinic non-Ml receptors in enriched gastric parietal ceIls (10) activate the phosphoinositol system, which probably provides the second messengers activating acid secretion (10-13). This model system allows a characterization of the muscarinic receptor sub type iqvolved in acid secretion by both functional and radioligand binding studies (14,15). The aim of the present study was to characterize the muscarinic receptor subtype involved in the break...