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The Cholinergic Synapse pp 581–595Cite as

The Autonomic Cholinergic Neuroeffector Junction

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Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 86))

Abstract

In this article the term cholinergic neuroeffector junction is used to distinguish this site of transmission from the cholinergic synapses of skeletal muscle and autonomic ganglia. The characteristics of the neuroeffector junction are the wide and variable cleft (up to micrometres), the lack of discrete postjunctional specializations and the even distribution of receptors over the whole surface of the effector cell. The typical synapse, on the other hand, has a narrow cleft (20–50nm) with characteristic pre- and postsynaptic structural specializations and a small area of the postsynaptic cell where the receptors are concentrated (for literature, see Gabella 1981; Vizi 1984; Burnstock 1985). The terminal portions of the autonomic cholinergic nerve fibres innervating smooth muscles are varicosities which are filled with agranular vesicles. These varicosities are the actual sites of acetylcholine (ACh) release, and constitute en passage junctions rather than terminal synapses (for literature, see Kilbinger 1982; Loffelholz and Pappano 1985). The basic mechanisms of ACh synthesis and release are similar at cholinergic junctions and synapses. Cholinergic transmission at peripheral ganglionic synapses has been dealt with in recent reviews (Collier and Kwok 1982; McAfee 1982) and in a handbook of this series (Kharkevich 1980) and is therefore not considered here. This chapter reviews some of the recent discoveries about the release of ACh from peripheral neuroeffector junctions with particular emphasis on the autoreceptor mediated control of release (Kilbinger 1984), and about the actions of ACh on subtypes of muscarinic ACh receptors (mAChRs) at various peripheral junctions.

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  1. H. Kilbinger
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  1. Arbeitsgruppe Neurochemie, Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie, Postfach 2841, D-3400, Göttingen, Germany

    Victor P. Whittaker

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Kilbinger, H. (1988). The Autonomic Cholinergic Neuroeffector Junction. In: Whittaker, V.P. (eds) The Cholinergic Synapse. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 86. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73220-1_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73220-1_21

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