Shawn M Ferguson, Valentina Savchenko, Subbu Apparsundaram, Melissa Zwick, Jane Wright, Craig J Heilman, Hong Yi, Allan I Levey, Randy D Blakely
Presynaptic synthesis of acetylcholine (ACh) requires a steady supply of choline, acquired by a plasma membrane, hemicholinium-3-sensitive (HC-3) choline transporter (CHT). A significant fraction of synaptic choline is recovered from ACh hydrolyzed by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) after vesicular release. Although antecedent neuronal activity is known to dictate presynaptic CHT activity, the mechanisms supporting this regulation are unknown. We observe an exclusive localization of CHT to cholinergic neurons and demonstrate that the majority of CHTs reside on small vesicles within cholinergic presynaptic terminals in the rat and mouse brain...
October 29, 2003: Journal of Neuroscience