Appearance of acetylcholine receptors in cultured myoblasts prior to fusion

Abstract
The development of the acetycholine receptors in chick embryo myoblasts from 11-day old embryos was studied in vitro. Using the purified α-bungarotoxin labeled with radioactive iodide, a high concentration of acetylcholine receptors was found in the prefusing myoblasts; most of these receptors were located in the interior of the myoblasts. However, upon the completion of myoblast fusion, the majority of the acetylcholine receptors appeared on the external cell surface of the myotubes.