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ACETYLCHOLINE CONTENT OF THE SCHWANN CELL AND AXON IN THE GIANT NERVE FIBRE OF THE SQUID
Author(s) -
Villegas Jorge,
Jenden Donald J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1979.tb04559.x
Subject(s) - axoplasm , squid , axon , nerve fiber , choline , acetylcholine , chemistry , fiber , schwann cell , anatomy , biophysics , biology , biochemistry , endocrinology , ecology , organic chemistry
— Acetylcholine and choline were identified and their concentrations measured, by means of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, in extracts obtained from nerve fibers of the hindmost stellar nerve of the squid Sepioteuthis sepioidea. These compounds were quantitated in samples of stellar nerve devoid of giant fiber, intact giant nerve fiber, extruded axoplasm, and axoplasm‐free giant nerve fiber sheaths. In 11 samples of stellar nerve devoid of giant fiber, weighing an average of 20.8 ± 2.3 mg ( s.e.m. ), 756 ± 91 pmol ACh and 8.65 ± 0.62 nmol of choline were found. The total ACh content of the largest fibre in this group (10 μ m in diameter), for a 5 cm length of nerve, is in the order of 0.16 pmol. The average wet weights of a single giant nerve fiber (270‐420 μ m in diameter) and its separate components ( s.e.m .; in mg; number of fibers in parentheses) were: intact fiber, 4.58 ± 0.19 (25); extruded axoplasm, 3.38 ± 0.13 (20); sheaths, 1.21 ± 0.11 (16). The average ACh content per unit weight of sample was about 2‐3 times higher in the sheaths (5‐13 pmol‐mg −1 ) than in the axoplasm (2‐4 pmol mg −1 ), whereas the ACh concentrations estimated per unit volume of cellular water were about 40 times higher in the Schwann cell (107‐222 μ m ) than in the axon (2‐5 μ m ). These experimental findings establish the presence of ACh in the giant nerve fiber of S. sepioidea. They also indicate the Schwann cells themselves as the main source for the release of ACh, responsible for their long‐lasting hyperpolarizations following the conduction of nerve impulse trains by the axon.