The muscarinic cholinergic receptors belong to a larger family of G protein-coupled receptors. The functional diversity of these receptors is defined by the binding of acetylcholine to these receptors and includes cellular responses such as adenylate cyclase inhibition, phosphoinositide degeneration, and potassium channel mediation. Muscarinic receptors influence many effects of acetylcholine in the central and peripheral nervous system. The muscarinic cholinergic receptor 2 is involved in mediation of bradycardia and a decrease in cardiac contractility. Multiple alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]