The interaction of neurotransmitters, neuromodulators and neuroactive drugs with receptors localized at the cell surface initiates a chain of molecular events leading to integrated neuronal responses to the triggering stimuli. Major advancements in the characterization and isolation of recep tor molecules have answered many quest ions regarding the nature of the ele ments that determine the specificity in these interactions. At the same time, recent studies have provided evidence that delicate regulation by intracellular enzymatic systems determines the efficiency of the stimulus response coupling process, mediates the interaction between receptors, operates in feedback control mechanisms and transduces signals from the receptors to various effector sites in a highly coordinated fashion. These studies are at the focus of the present volume, which is an outcome of a symposium held at the University of Vermont College of Medicine on March 21-23, 1986, in conjunction with the seventeenth annual meeting of the Amer ican Society for Neurochemistry. The symposium has demonstrated clearly that the concerted efforts of investigators in neurophysiology, biochemis try, pharmacology, cell-biology, molecular genetics, neurology, and psy chiatry are required to achieve better understanding of the processes under lying neuronal responsiveness. This volume includes contributions provided by prominent investigators in all these research areas. We hope that the readers will find here a useful source of information and ideas for stimu lating further studies which may serve to narrow the gap between basic neuroscience research and its clinical implications.

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Section I Signal Transduction and Stimulus-Response Coupling.- Further Studies on Depolarization Release Coupling in Squid Giant Synapse.- Temporal and Spatial Events in the Calcium Messenger System.- Potassium Channels in Mouse Spinal Cord Cells.- Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Inositol Phospholipids at the Synapse in Neuronal Responsiveness.- Receptor-Mediated Phosphoinositide Metabolism.- Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor-Linked Inositide Cycle in the Central Nervous System.- The Role of GTP-Binding Proteins in Receptor Activation of Phospholipase C.- Molecular Geometries and Steric Energies of Phorbol 10, 11-Diacetate and 1, 2-Diacetylglycerol Molecules.- A Model of the Light Dependent Regulation of Retinal Rod Phosphodiesterase, Guanylate Cyclase and the Cation Flux.- Regulation of Neuronal Adenylate Cyclase.- Synapsin I, A Phosphoprotein Associated with Synaptic Vesicles: Possible Role in Regulation of Neurotransmitter Release.- Regulation of the Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation of a 96,000 Dalton Phosphoprotein (P96) in Intact Synaptosomes.- Phosphorylation and Dephosphorylation of Neurofilament Proteins in Retinal Ganglion Cell Neurons In Vivo.- Extracellular Protein Phosphorylation in Neuronal Responsiveness and Adaptation.- Expression of Rat Brain Excitatory Amino Acid Receptors in Xenopus Oocytes.- Tyrosine Availability: A Presynaptic Factor Controlling Catecholamine Release.- Molecular Mechanisms Controlling Norepinephrine-Mediated Release of Serotonin from Rat Pineal Glands.- Molecular Mechanisms of Acidic Amino Acid Release From Mossy Fiber Terminals of Rat Cerebellum.- Section II Neuronal Adaptation and Synaptic Plasticity.- Molecular Mechanisms of ?-Adrenergic Receptor Desensitization.- Long-Term Synergistic Regulation of Ionic Channels byC-Kinase and Ca++/CaM-Type II Kinase.- A Possible Second Messenger System for the Production of Long-Term Changes in Synapses.- Protein F1 and Protein Kinase C May Regulate the Persistence, Not the Initiation, of Synaptic Potentiation in the Hippocampus.- Electrophysiologic Responses and Adenylate Cyclase Activities of Mouse Spinal Cord-Dorsal Root Ganglion Expiants Rendered Tolerant by Chronic Exposure to Morphine or Pertussis Toxin.- Biochemical and Functional Interactions of a Selective Kappa Opioid Agonist with Calcium.- Long-Term Inhibition of Kindled Seizures by Chemical and Electrophysiological Techniques: Insights into the Kindling Process?.- Altered Reactivity of the Rat Adrenal Medulla Following Periods of Chronic Stress.- Chemoreception: Paramecium as a Receptor Cell.- Reduction of Dopamine Receptor Activity Differentially Alters Striatal Neuropeptide mRNA Levels.- Section III Behavioral and Clinical Implications.- B-50 Phosphorylation, Protein Kinase C and the Induction of Excessive Grooming Behavior in the Rat.- Molecular Mechanisms of Neuronal Excitability: Possible Involvement of CaM Kinase II in Seizure Activity.- Cytoskeletal Pathology in Neurodegenerative Diseases.- Modulation of Schwann Cell Antigens During Wallerian Degeneration and Regeneration in the Adult, Mammalian Peripheral Nerve.- A Physiological Role of the Benzodiazepine/GABA Receptor-Chloride Ionophore Complex in Stress.- Interactions of the Alkyl-Ether-Phospholipid, Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) with Platelets, Neural Cells, and the Psychotropic Drugs Triazolobenzodiazepines.- The Serotonin-Norepinephrine Link Hypothesis of Affective Disorders: Receptor-Receptor Interactions in Brain.- Substance M, A Serotonin Modulator Candidate from Human Urine?.- Role of Receptor Coupling toPhosphoinositide Metabolism in the Therapeutic Action of Lithium.- Agonist-Stimulation of Cerebral Phosphoinositide Turnover Following Long-Term Treatment with Antidepresants.- A Possible Role for Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone (TRH) in Antidepressant Treatment.