The muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) mediates various cellular responses, including inhibition of adenylate cyclase, breakdown of phosphoinositides and modulation of potassium channels, through the action of guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins. Pharmacologically distinguishable forms of the mAChR occur in different tissues and have provisionally been classified into M1 (I), M2 cardiac (II) and M2 glandular (III) subtypes on the basis of their difference in apparent affinity for antagonists. In an attempt to elucidate the molecular basis of the functional heterogeneity of the mAChR, we have cloned and sequenced DNAs complementary to porcine cerebral and cardiac messenger RNAs encoding mAChRs and have thereby deduced the primary structures of the receptor proteins. We report here that the messenger RNA generated by transcription of the cardiac complementary DNA directs the formation of a functional mAChR in Xenopus oocytes and that this mAChR differs from the mAChR formed by expression of the cerebral cDNA both in acetylcholine (ACh)-induced response and in antagonist binding properties. Our results provide evidence indicating that the mAChR encoded by the cerebral cDNA (designated as mAChR I) and the mAChR encoded by the cardiac cDNA (mAChR II) are of the M1 (I) and the M2 cardiac (II) subtype, respectively.