Neuromuscular acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) have two transmitter binding sites: at α-δ and either α-γ (fetal) or α-ε (adult) subunit interfaces. The γ-subunit of fetal AChRs is indispensable for the proper development of neuromuscular synapses. We estimated parameters for acetylcholine (ACh) binding and gating from single channel currents of fetal mouse AChRs expressed in tissue-cultured cell...

Recently, the medial habenula-interpeduncular (MHb-IPN) axis has been hypothesized to modulate anxiety although neuronal populations and molecular mechanisms regulating affective behaviors in this circuit are unknown. Here we show that MHb cholinergic neuron activity directly regulates anxiety-like behavior. Optogenetic silencing of MHb cholinergic IPN inputs reduced anxiety-like behavior in mi...

How aging affects the communication between neurons is poorly understood. To address this question, we have studied the electrophysiological properties of identified neuron R15 of the marine mollusk Aplysia californica. R15 is a bursting neuron in the abdominal ganglia of the central nervous system and is implicated in reproduction, water balance, and heart function. Exposure to acetylcholine (...

Acetylcholine (ACh), a classical neurotransmitter, has been shown to be present in various non-neuronal cells, including cells of the eye, such as corneal epithelium and endothelium, and to have widespread physiological effects such as cytoskeleton reorganization, cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ACh on corneal kerato...

OBJECTIVE The aim was to examine the adrenergic modulation of endogenous acetylcholine (ACh) release from vagal nerve terminals in the in vivo heart. METHODS Using dialysis technique in anesthetized cats, we investigated the influence of exogenous noradrenaline on dialysate ACh response. Dialysis probes were implanted in the left ventricular myocardium and perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer...

Cholinergic modification of neuronal responsiveness in auditory cortex includes alteration of spontaneous and tone-evoked neuronal discharge. Previously it was suggested that the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) and muscarinic agonists on neuronal discharge resembled those due to increases in the intensity of acoustic stimuli (Ashe et al. 1989). To determine the relationship between neuronal modi...

Congenital myasthenic syndromes (CMS) stem from defects in presynaptic, synaptic basal lamina, and postsynaptic proteins. The presynaptic CMS are associated with defects that curtail the evoked release of acetylcholine (ACh) quanta or ACh resynthesis. Defects in ACh resynthesis have now been traced to mutations in choline acetyltransferase. A basal lamina CMS is caused by mutations in the colla...

The muscarinic M2 receptor (M2R) acts as a negative feedback regulator in central cholinergic systems. Activation of the M2 receptor limits acetylcholine (ACh) release, especially when ACh levels are increased because acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity is acutely inhibited. Chronically high ACh levels in the extracellular space, however, were reported to down-regulate M2R to various degrees. ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the effect of acetylcholine (ACh), pilocarpine, and atropine on pain evoked responses of pain excited neurons (PEN) and pain inhibited neurons (PIN) in hippocampal CA3 region of morphine addicted rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Female Wistar rats, weighing between 230-260 g were used in this study. Morphine addicted rats were generated by subcutaneous injection of increasi...

Acetylcholine (ACh) plays a crucial role in physiological responses of both the central and the peripheral nervous system. Moreover, ACh was described as an anti-inflammatory mediator involved in the suppression of exacerbated innate response and cytokine release in various organs. However, the specific contributions of endogenous release ACh for inflammatory responses in the lung are not well ...