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Acetylcholine (ACh) is an organic compound that functions in the brain and body of many types of animals (including humans) as a neurotransmitter. [1] Its name is derived from its chemical structure: it is an ester of acetic acid and choline. [2] Parts in the body that use or are affected by acetylcholine are referred to as cholinergic.
Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter discovered in the peripheral and central nervous systems. It activates skeletal muscles in the somatic nervous system and may either excite or inhibit internal organs in the autonomic system. [ 17 ]
Choline is a precursor to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that plays a necessary role in muscle contraction, memory and neural development. [2] [3] [5] Nonetheless, there is little acetylcholine in the human body relative to other forms of choline. [4]
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs, are receptor polypeptides that respond to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Nicotinic receptors also respond to drugs such as the agonist nicotine . They are found in the central and peripheral nervous system, muscle, and many other tissues of many organisms.
Choline acetyltransferase was first described by David Nachmansohn and A. L. Machado in 1943. [6] A German biochemist, Nachmansohn had been studying the process of nerve impulse conduction and utilization of energy-yielding chemical reactions in cells, expanding upon the works of Nobel laureates Otto Warburg and Otto Meyerhof on fermentation, glycolysis, and muscle contraction.
Acetylcholinesterase (HGNC symbol ACHE; EC 3.1.1.7; systematic name acetylcholine acetylhydrolase), also known as AChE, AChase or acetylhydrolase, is the primary cholinesterase in the body. It is an enzyme that catalyzes the breakdown of acetylcholine and some other choline esters that function as neurotransmitters :
Besides being dark and mysterious, crows are extremely intelligent birds. So smart, in fact, that it might be a little bit scary. Even though their brains are the size of a human thumb, their ...
When ligands bind to the receptor, the ion channel portion of the receptor opens, allowing ions to pass across the cell membrane.. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter synthesized from dietary choline and acetyl-CoA (ACoA), and is involved in the stimulation of muscle tissue in vertebrates as well as in some invertebrate animals.