Activation State of the M3 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Modulates Mammalian Odorant Receptor Signaling

A diverse repertoire of heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptors (GPCRs) enables cells to sense their environment. Mammalian olfaction requires the activation of odorant receptors (ORs), the largest family of GPCRs; however, whether ORs functionally interact with other families of GPCRs is unclear. We show that the interaction of ORs with the type 3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M3-R), which is found in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs), modulated OR responses to cognate odorants. In human embryonic kidney-293T cells, ORs and the M3-R physically interacted, and the M3-R increased the potency and efficacy of odorant-elicited responses of several ORs. Selective M3-R antagonists attenuated odorant-dependent activation of OSNs, and, when the M3-R and ORs were expressed in transfected cells, OR activation was enhanced by muscarinic agonists and inhibited by muscarinic antagonists. Furthermore, M3-R-dependent potentiation of OR signaling synergized with that of receptor transporting protein 1S (RTP1S), an accessory factor required for the efficient membrane targeting of ORs. However, the M3-R did not enhance the abundance of ORs at the cell surface, suggesting that the M3-R acted through a distinct mechanism independent of RTP1S. Finally, the activation of ORs by cognate odorants transactivated the M3-R in the absence of its agonist. The cross talk between ORs and the M3-R suggests that the functional coupling of ORs and the M3-R is required for robust OR activation.