The acetylcholine nicotinic receptor is an ionic channel whose aperture is directly controlled by acetylcholine. It is a key molecule in the chemical communication between nerve cells and between nerve cell and muscle. The structure and function of muscular nicotinic receptors have been unraveled in recent years and its beauty and mysteries were reviewed in the Santorini NATO ARW organized by Dr. Maelicke in 1986. The neat, linear structure of this molecule and its conservation throughout evolution, from bacteria to humans, have led to the suggestion that it has reached the optimal structure for performing its function. But when scientists began to look at the nicotinic receptor in the nervous system, they found several surprises. From the beginning, pharmacological and physiological experiments, have made it clear that the functional characteristics of neuronal nicotinic receptors are substantially different from those of muscle receptors. Furthermore, recent sophisticated techniques such as patch clamp and gene cloning have revealed that the nicotinic receptor in the nervous system is not a single molecule but (although there are some important exceptions) a large family of similar molecules, which have in common the property of binding nicotinic agonists or antagonists. Over the last few years, the physiological implications of nicotinic receptors have been reevaluated on the basis of more precise behavioural and pharmacological techniques. Moreover, the involvement of nicotinic receptors in degenerative pathologies of the eNS, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, has also been discovered very recently.

Inhalt

Biochemical and Pharmacological Characterization of Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors.- Autoradiographic Mapping of Putative Nicotinic Cholinoceptor in Mammalian Brain.- Functional Studies of Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors Utilizing Kappa-Neurotoxins.- Characterization and Localization of Ganglionic Nicotinic Receptors Using Neuronal Bungarotoxin.- Alpha-Bungarotoxin and Presynaptic Nicotinic Receptors: Functional Studies.- Evidence for Functional and Structural Diversity of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.- Biochemical and Molecular Biology Approaches to Central Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.- Alpha-Bungarotoxin Receptor in a Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line.- Characterization of the Alpha-Bungarotoxin Binding Protein from PC12 Cells.- Identification of Surface Domains of the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Molecule by the Use of Antibodies and Toxins.- Heterogeneity of Nicotine Actions in the Rat Cerebellum.- Distribution of Nicotinic Receptors in the Human Brain: Quantitative Autoradiography Using 3H-Nicotine.- Distribution of 3H-N-Methylcarbamylcholine Binding Sites in Rat Brain: Correlation with Nicotinic Autoreceptors..- Molecular Biology of AChR.- Structure of Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors.- The Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Gene Family.- Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Genes in the Avian Genome.- Invertebrate AChR.- Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Insect Ganglia and Mammalian Brain: Some Comparison.- Identification of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors from the Nervous System of Insects.- Pharmacology of a Locust Thoracic Ganglion Somal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor.- Synaptic and Extrasynaptic Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors of Insects.- Pharmacology, Cloning and Expression of Insect Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.- AChR Involvement in Physiology and Pathology.- Regulation of Neuronal Acetylcholine Receptors by Cell-Cell Interactions.- Pharmacological Modulation of Brain Nicotinic Binding Sites.- Regulation of Behavioral and Physiological Sensitivity to Nicotine by Brain Nicotinic Receptors.- Heterogeneous Cholinergic Nicotinic Receptors in the CNS.- Cholinergic Neuropathology and Nicotinic Receptor Binding in the Human Brain.- The Cholinergic Receptor System in the Frontal Lobe of Alzheimer Patients.- Developmental Regulation and Modulation of Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Channels.- Immunocytochemical Localization of Nicotinic Receptors in the Frog Retina: Physiological Correlates.- Authors Index.- Subjects Index.