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Handbook of Neurochemistry pp 511–526Cite as

Transmitter Specificity in Neurons

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Abstract

For the past 10 years considerable thought has centered on the question of whether neurons can utilize more than one transmitter substance.1-6 This recent interest originated from biochemical studies on isolated invertebrate neu rons,3,7,8 and also from the development of specific immunofluorescent procedures to visualize transmitter-type molecules.6,9,10 Before this era, it was widely accepted that each neuron had the ability to synthesize, store, and release only one transmitter substance. This concept, referred to as Dale’s principle by Eccles,11 was based on a vast quantity of experimental data. Although neither Dale nor Eccles stated categorically that neurons have the capacity to produce and release only one transmitter substance, this was generally believed to be the case, as embodied in Dale’s principle. However, even before the present era of sophisticated methodology, this belief was constantly questioned. For example, in 1959, Burn and Rand12 suggested that acetylcholine was involved in certain forms of adrenergic transmission in order to explain several pharmacological inconsistencies from the traditional point of view. It was proposed that acetylcholine is present together with norepinephrine in adrenergic axons and forms an intermediate link between nerve impulses and the release of norepinephrine from the nerve terminal.13,14 Stimulation of sympathetic postganglionic nerves produces cholinergic contraction of newborn rabbit intestine but a predominantly adrenergic relaxation several days later.15

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6AW, England

    Neville N. Osborne

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  1. Center for Neurochemistry, Wards Island, New York, USA

    Abel Lajtha

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Osborne, N.N. (1984). Transmitter Specificity in Neurons. In: Lajtha, A. (eds) Handbook of Neurochemistry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4568-8_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4568-8_18

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