Some currently neglected aspects of cholinergic function.
At the request of the organizers of the XIII International Symposium on Cholinergic Mechanisms, I have selected for review three topics not well represented at the meeting: the synthesis, storage, and release of acetylcholine at cholinergic nerve endings; cholinergic-specific antigens; and neuropeptides as cholinergic co-transmitters. The first topic is illustrated by work with two model systems, the electromotor nerve terminals of the electric ray and the myenteric plexus of the guinea-pig ileum, the second by work with Chol-1, a group of cholinergic-specific gangliosides sialylated on their N-acetylgalactosamine residues, and the third by vasoactive intestinal polypeptide which is a co-transmitter at 70% of cholinergic nerve endings in brain and is also present in both of the model cholinergic systems.
Wolfson College, Cambridge, UK. whittaker54@talktalk.net
Victor P
VP
Whittaker
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D004557:Electric Organ / Q000502:physiology; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D009197:Myenteric Plexus / Q000502:physiology; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide / Q000378:metabolism
D000954:Antigens, Surface; D005732:Gangliosides; C038777:chol-1 antigen; D014660:Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide; D000109:Acetylcholine