Acetylcholine

• Effects prolonged (leading to tetanic muscle spasms and neural

“frying”) by nerve gas and organophosphate insecticides
(Malathion).
• ACH receptors destroyed in myasthenia gravis
• Binding to receptors inhibited by curare (a muscle paralytic) and
some snake venoms.
 FUNCTIONS OF ACh

1. Acetylcholine is involved in a variety of functions

including pain, recent memory, nicotine addiction,
salivation, locomotion, regulation of circadian
rhythm and thermoregulation.

2. It has also been demonstrated that brain

cholinergic neurons play a critical role in
Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s chorea and in
the generation of epileptic seizures.

3
 Neurotransmitters:
Biogenic Amines
• Include:
• Catecholamines – dopamine, norepinephrine (NE), and
epinephrine (EP)
• Indolamines – serotonin and histamine
• Broadly distributed in the brain
• Play roles in emotional behaviors and our biological clock

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 Synthesis of Catecholamines
• AA tyrosine parent cpd
• Enzymes present in the cell
determine length of
biosynthetic pathway
• Norepinephrine and
dopamine are synthesized in
axonal terminals
• Epinephrine is released by
the adrenal medulla as a
hormone

Figure 11.22
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BIOGENIC AMINES
• Norepinephrine (Noradrenaline)
– Main NT of the sympathetic branch of autonomic nervous system
– Binds to adrenergic receptors ( or  -many subtypes, 1, 2, etc)
– Excitatory or inhibitory depending on receptor type bound
– “Feeling good” NT
– Release enhanced by amphetamines
– Removal from synapse blocked by antidepressants and cocaine
• Dopamine
– Binds to dopaminergic receptors of substantia nigra of midbrain
and hypothalamus
– “Feeling good” NT
– Release enhanced by amphetamines
– Reuptake block by cocaine
– Deficient in Parkinson’s disease
– May be involved in pathogenesis of schizophrenia
Serotonin (5-HT)
• Synthesized from a.a. tryptophan

The synthesis of serotonin involve two reactions:

1) Hydroxylation:
Tryptophan 5- Hydroxytryptophan
The enzyme catalyzes this reaction is
Tryptophan Hydroxylase.
The Co- factor is Tetrahydrobiopterin, which
converted in this reaction to Dihydrobiopterin