title: Nonsynaptic and nonvesicular ATP release from neurons and relevance to neuron-glia signaling.
abstract: Studies on the release of ATP from neurons began with the earliest investigations of quantal neurotransmitter release in the 1950s, but in contrast to ATP release from other cells, studies of ATP release from neurons have been narrowly constrained to one mechanism, vesicular release. This is a consequence of the prominence of synaptic transmission in neuronal communication, but nonvesicular mechanisms for ATP release from neurons are likely to have a broader range of functions than synaptic release. Investigations of activity-dependent communication between axons and myelinating glia have stimulated a search for mechanisms that could release ATP from axons and other nonsynaptic regions in response to action potential firing. This has identified volume-activated anion channels as an important mechanism in activity-dependent ATP release from axons, and renewed interest in micromechanical changes in axons that accompany action potential firing.
authors.affiliation: Nervous Systems Development and Plasticity Section, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States. fieldsd@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: R Douglas
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Fields
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D048430:Cell Shape; D006801:Humans; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate