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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1986 Jan;83(1):170–173. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.1.170

Presynaptic transmitter content controls the number of quanta released at a neuro-neuronal cholinergic synapse.

B Poulain, G Baux, L Tauc
PMCID: PMC322813  PMID: 3510429

Abstract

In the buccal ganglion of Aplysia the overloading of the cholinergic presynaptic neuron by exogenous acetylcholine (AcCho) led to an enhancement of the postsynaptic response. The deprivation of choline in the presynaptic neuron by extra- and/or intracellularly applied choline oxidase to prevent AcCho synthesis resulted in a decrease of the postsynaptic response. In both cases, the size of the calculated miniature postsynaptic current (i.e., the size of the quantum) remained unchanged. It was concluded that, for a given stimulation, the number of quanta released (i.e., the quantal content) is directly related to the quantity of AcCho available for release in the presynaptic 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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