Abstract
Neurobiologists are conducting investigations ultimately aimed at understanding the cellular and molecular basis of animal behavior. These studies make use of a variety of techniques and approaches, many of which are defining the precise nature of the interactions between a neuron and its target. Of pivotal importance is the characterization of molecules that function as extracellular chemical messengers in the central nervous system (CNS). These messengers have a variety of chemical structures and can act in a direct fashion or across long distances. For example, at the neuromuscular junction, acetylcholine (ACh) acts directly over short distances and is rapidly degraded by acetlycholinesterase (AChE). Furthermore, high-affinity reuptake systems remove many neurotransmitters from the synaptic cleft (Hall, 1973; Cooper et al., 1978). By contrast, a variety of other substances, such as biologically active peptides, may act either synaptically or at targets quite distant from their sites of release. These longer-range effects often have slower onsets and longer durations than interactions mediated at a classic synapse (Krieger, 1983). More recent studies have demonstrated that single neurons may elicit multiple actions mediated by more than one chemical messenger (Lundberg and Hokfelt, 1983).
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© 1987 Plenum Press, New York
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Mahon, A.C., Scheller, R.H. (1987). Small Cardioactive Peptides A and B. In: Heinemann, S., Patrick, J. (eds) Molecular Neurobiology. Current Topics in Neurobiology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7488-0_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7488-0_5
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