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. 1974 Dec;52(4):499–507. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1974.tb09717.x

The release of labelled acetylcholine and choline from cerebral cortical slices stimulated electrically

IW Richardson, JC Szerb
PMCID: PMC1776885  PMID: 4455326

Abstract

1 In order to establish the origin of the increased efflux of radioactivity caused by electrical stimulation of cerebral cortical slices which had been incubated with [3H]-choline, labelled choline and acetylcholine (ACh) collected by superfusion were separated by gold precipitation.

2 In the presence of physostigmine electrical stimulation (1 Hz, 10 min) increased the release of only [3H]-ACh which was greatly enhanced by the addition of atropine.

3 Continuous stimulation in the presence of physostigmine resulted in an evoked release of [3H]-ACh which declined asymptotically. This evoked release appeared to follow first-order kinetics with a rate constant which remained stable over the course of prolonged stimulation.

4 The rate constant for the evoked release of [3H]-ACh with 1 Hz stimulation was three times greater in the presence of physostigmine and atropine than in the presence of physostigmine alone, while the size of the store from which [3H]-ACh was released was nearly identical under these two conditions.

5 In the absence of physostigmine and atropine, stimulation caused the appearance of only [3H]-choline in the samples.

6 Reduction of [3H]-ACh stores before the application of physostigmine resulted in a reduced evoked release of total radioactivity, both in the absence or presence of physostigmine and atropine, and decreased the evoked release of [3H]-ACh without affecting the release of [3H]-choline.

7 Results suggest that electrical stimulation of cortical slices which had been incubated with [3H]-choline causes the release of only [3H]-ACh, both in the presence or absence of an anticholinesterase. The evoked increase in the efflux of total radioactivity is therefore a good measure of the release of [3H]-ACh.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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