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New Evidence Supporting the Vesicle Hypothesis for Quantal Secretion at the Neuromuscular Junction

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Cellular and Molecular Basis of Synaptic Transmission

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIH,volume 21))

Abstract

Acetylcholine (ACh) is stored in two compartments within vertebrate motor terminals: the cytoplasm and the synaptic vesicles (Whittaker et al., 1964; Dunant et al., 1972); it is released from terminals in two ways: continuously in a relatively steady molecular stream (Katz and Miledi, 1977; Vyskocil and Illes, 1979), and intermittantly in pulses, or quanta, (Fatt and Katz, 1952, del Castillo and Katz, 1954) which contain about 104 molecules (Kuffler and Yoshikami, 1975). The function of the continuous leak is not understood (Edwards et al., 1985), but the spontaneous or neurally evoked release of quanta generates the discrete, transient miniature endplate potentials (mepps) or endplate potentials (epps) that mediate neuromuscular transmission. Two hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of the quanta: a) the cytoplasmic hypothesis which postulates that quanta are comprised of cytoplasmic ACh which diffuses in pulses through channels in the axolemma which become intermittantly permeable to it (Israel and Manaranche, 1985), and b) the vesicle hypothesis which postulates that quanta are comprised of ACh which is released by exocytosis from the interiors of synaptic vesicles whose membranes have fused with the axolemma (del Castillo and Katz, 1956). In our opinion, the vast preponderance of evidence supports the vesicle hypothesis of quantal secretion, though its proof is not yet absolute and most of the mechanistic details of the fusion and recovery processes have yet to be worked out.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Pharmacology, Center for the Study of Peripheral Neuropathies and Neuromuscular Diseases, CNR Center of Cytopharmacology, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli 32, 20129, Milano, Italy

    Bruno Ceccarelli, Flavia Valtorta & William P. Hurlbut

  2. The Rockefeller University, New York, N.Y., 10021, USA

    William P. Hurlbut

Authors
  1. Bruno Ceccarelli
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  2. Flavia Valtorta
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  3. William P. Hurlbut
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. AK Neurochemie, Zoologisches Institut der J. W. Goethe-Universität, Siesmayerstraße 70, 6000, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Herbert Zimmermann

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Ceccarelli, B., Valtorta, F., Hurlbut, W.P. (1988). New Evidence Supporting the Vesicle Hypothesis for Quantal Secretion at the Neuromuscular Junction. In: Zimmermann, H. (eds) Cellular and Molecular Basis of Synaptic Transmission. NATO ASI Series, vol 21. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73172-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73172-3_3

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