BCH 222

NEUROBIOCHEMISTRY:
THE MORPHOLOGY AND COMPOSITION
OF A NEURON
 INTRODUCTION
• The human nervous system consists of two main parts, the central nervous system
(CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS).

• The CNS contains the brain and spinal cord while PNS comprises the nerve fibers
that connect the CNS to every other part of the body.

• The PNS includes the motor neurons that are responsible for mediating voluntary
movement.

• The PNS also includes the autonomic nervous system which encompasses the
sympathetic nervous system, the parasympathetic nervous system, and the
enteric nervous system.
 INTRODUCTION
• The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are tasked with the
regulation of all involuntary activities.

• The enteric nervous system is unique in that it represents a semi-independent

part of the nervous system whose function is to control processes specific to the
gastrointestinal system.

• The nervous systems of the body are composed of two primary types of cell: the
neurons that carry the chemical signals of nerve transmission, and the glial cells
that serve to support and protect the neurons.
 INTRODUCTION
• Two important concepts relate to the functioning of the nervous system.

• These terms are efferent and afferent.

• Efferent connections in the nervous system refer to those that send signals from
the CNS to the effector cells of the body such as muscles and glands.

• Efferent nerves are, therefore, also referred to as motor neurons.

• Afferent connections refer to those that send signals from sense organs to the
CNS.

• For this reason these nerves are commonly referred to as sensory neurons.
 INTRODUCTION
• Another important cellular structure in nervous systems are the ganglia.

• The term ganglion refers to a bundle (mass) of nerve cell bodies.

• In the context of the nervous system, ganglia are composed of soma (cell bodies)
and dendritic structures.

• The dendritic trees of most ganglia are interconnected to other dendritic trees
resulting in the formation of a plexus.

• In the human nervous system there are two main groups of ganglia.

• The dorsal root ganglia, which is also referred to as the spinal ganglia, contains the
cell bodies of the sensory nerves.
 INTRODUCTION
• The autonomic ganglia contain the cell bodies of the nerves of the autonomic
nervous system.

• Nerves that project from the CNS to autonomic ganglia are referred to as
preganglionic nerves (or fibers) while nerves projecting from ganglia to effector
organs are referred to as postganglionic nerves (or fibers).

• Generally the term ganglion relates to the peripheral nervous system.

• However, the term basal ganglia (also basal nuclei) is used commonly to describe
the neuroanatomical region of the brain that connects the hypothalamus,
cerebral cortex, and the brainstem.
 MORPHOLOGY AND COMPOSITION OF NEURONS

• Cell body • Myelin sheath

• Dendrite • Axon terminals

• Axon • Synaptic vesicles

• Cell membrane • Synapse

• Nodes of Ranvier • Neurotransmitters

• Glial cells (Oligodendrocytes

and Schwann cells)
 Neurons
• Neurons are the highly specialized cells of all nervous systems (e.g. CNS and PNS)
that are tasked with transmitting signals from one location to another.

• These cells accomplish this role through specialized membrane-to-membrane

junctions called synapses.

• Most neuron possess an axon which is a long protrusion from the body (soma) of
the neuron to the synapse.

• Axons can extend to distant parts of the body and make thousands of synaptic
contacts such as is the case with the CNS neurons of the spinal cord.

• Axons frequently travel through the body in bundles called nerves.

 Neurons
• The pre-synaptic neuron will release secretory granule contents in response to the

propagation of an electrochemical signal (action potential) down its axon.

• The released substance (neurotransmitter) will then bind to a specific receptor on the

post-synaptic neuron, thereby, propagating the action potential to the next neuron.

• The human nervous system is composed of different types of neurons including

sensory neurons that transmute physical stimuli such as light and sound into neural

signals, and motor neurons that are responsible for converting neural signals into

activation of muscles or glands.

 Glial Cells
• Glial cells (named from the Greek for "glue") are the specialized non-neuronal cells
of the nervous system that provide protection, support and nutrition for neurons.

• As the Greek name glue infers, glial cells hold neurons in place and provide guidance
cues which directs axons of the neurons to their appropriate target cell(s).

• Glial cells are responsible for the maintenance of neural homeostasis, for the
formation of myelin, and they play a participatory role in signal transmission in the
nervous system. 
 Glial Cells
• Glial cells provide an electrical insulation (myelin) for neurons which allows for
rapid transmission of action potentials

• They also prevent abnormal propagation of nerve impulses to inappropriate

neurons.

• The glial cells that produce the myelin sheath are called oligodendrocytes in the
CNS and Schwann cells in the PNS.

• Glial cells also destroy pathogens and remove dead neurons.

 Neurotransmitters
• Neurotransmitters are endogenous substances that act as chemical messengers
by transmitting signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse.

• Prior to their release into the synaptic cleft, neurotransmitters are stored in
secretory vesicles (called synaptic vesicles) near the plasma membrane of the
axon terminal.

• The release of the neurotransmitter occurs most often in response to the arrival
of an action potential at the synapse.

• When released, the neurotransmitter crosses the synaptic gap and binds to
specific receptors in the membrane of the post-synaptic neuron or cell.
 Neurotransmitters - CLASSIFICATION
1. Excitatory Neurotransmitters, Inhibitory Neurotransmitters and Modulatory
Neurotransmitters

• Excitatory neurotransmitters exert excitatory effects on the neuron, thereby, increasing

the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential like glutamate, epinephrine and
norepinephrine.

• Inhibitory neurotransmitters exert inhibitory effects on the neuron, thereby, decreasing

the likelihood that the neuron will fire an action potential like GABA, glycine, and
serotonin.

• Modulatory neurotransmitters: Some neurotransmitters, can exert both excitatory and

inhibitory effects depending upon the type of receptors that are present.
 Neurotransmitters - CLASSIFICATION
2. Small molecules Neurotransmitters and peptide Neurotransmitters

• Many peptides with neurotransmitter action also possess hormonal action as

some cells that produce the peptides secrete into the bloodstream – acting at
distant cells.

• Small molecule neurotransmitters include acetylcholine, GABA, amino acid

neurotransmitters, ATP and nitric oxide (NO).

• The peptide neurotransmitters include more than 50 different peptides, several of

which are derived from the same precursor protein, pro-opiomelanocortin
(POMC).
 Neurotransmitters
3. Metabotropic Neurotransmitters and Ionotropic Neurotransmitters

• Two broad categories are present depending on whether the receptor activated by
the binding of transmitter is a metabotropic or an ionotropic receptor.

• Metabotropic receptors activate signal transduction upon transmitter binding

similar to many peptide hormone receptors which involves a second messenger and
are members of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) family.

• Ionotropic receptors are ligand-gated ion channels.

• Some neurotransmitters, for example glutamate and acetylcholine, bind to multiple

receptors some of which are metabotropic and some of which are ionotropic.
Major Neurotransmitters
 Neurotransmitter Receptors
• Once the molecules of neurotransmitter are released from a cell as the result of the
firing of an action potential, they bind to specific receptors on the surface of the
postsynaptic cell.

• It has been shown that there are numerous subtypes of receptor for any given
neurotransmitter.

• As well as being present on the surfaces of postsynaptic neurons, neurotransmitter

receptors are also found on presynaptic neurons.

• In general, presynaptic neuron receptors act to inhibit further release of

neurotransmitter.
 Neurotransmitter Receptors
• The vast majority of neurotransmitter receptors belong to a class of proteins
known as the G-protein coupled receptors, GPCR.

• The GPCR are also called serpentine receptors because they exhibit a
characteristic transmembrane structure: that is, they span the cell membrane,
not once but seven times.

• The link between neurotransmitters and intracellular signaling is carried out by

association, either with the receptor-associated G-protein, with protein kinases,
or by the receptor itself in the form of a ligand-gated ion channel (for example,
the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors).
 Neurotransmitter Receptors
• The receptors that are of the GPCR family are referred to as metabotropic
receptors, whereas, the ligand-gated ion channel receptors are referred to as
ionotropic receptors.

• One additional characteristic of neurotransmitter receptors is that they are

subject to ligand-induced desensitization.

• Receptor desensitization refers to the phenomenon whereby upon prolonged

exposure to ligand results in uncoupling of the receptor from its signaling
cascade.
 Neurotransmitter Receptors
• A common means of receptor desensitization involves receptor phosphorylation
by receptor-specific kinases.

• Following phosphorylation of the receptor there is increased affinity for inhibitory

molecules that uncouple the interaction of receptor with its associated G-protein.

• One major class of these desensitizing inhibitors are the arrestins.

• Arrestins were first identified in studies of β-adrenergic receptor desensitization

and so were called β-arrestins.
Formation of acetylcholine
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