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. 1973 Mar 1;61(3):342–360. doi: 10.1085/jgp.61.3.342

Quantal Mechanism of Transmitter Release during Progressive Depletion of the Presynaptic Stores at a Ganglionic Synapse

The action of hemicholinium-3 and thiamine deprivation

Oscar Sacchi 1, Virgilio Perri 1
PMCID: PMC2203453  PMID: 4689622

Abstract

In the present experiments we interfered with the mechanism of acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis in the rat superior cervical ganglion by impairing the supply of either the choline group (hemicholinium no. 3 [HC-3]treatment) or the acetyl group (thiamine deprivation). Under both conditions stimulation causes in the ganglion a progressive decline in ACh output associated with a depletion of transmitter tissue content. ACh release from the terminals of a single preganglionic fiber was estimated from the quantum content value of the evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP's) recorded intracellularly in the ganglion neuron under test. The present observations indicate that Poisson statistics describe transmitter release at either low or high release levels. Furthermore, the progressive decline in the rate of ACh output occurring during repetitive stimulation is shown to correspond to a progressive decrease in the number of transmitter quanta released per impulse and not to any modification in the size of individual quanta. Some 8,000 transmitter quanta proved to represent the presynaptic transmitter store initially present in those terminals on a neuron that are activated by stimulation of a single preganglionic fiber. Speculations are considered about synaptic efficacy and nerve connections in rat autonomic ganglia. It is suggested that six preganglionic fibers represent the mean input to a ganglion neuron.

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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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