9 signaling at the nerve-muscle synapse: directly gated transmission

abstract

the neuromuscular junction is a well-studied example of directly gated synaptic transmission

the motor neuron excites the muscle by opening ligand-gated ion channels at the end-plate

the end-plate potential is produced by ionic current through acetylcholine receptor-channels

the ion channel at the end-plate is permeable to both sodium and potassium

the current through single acetylcholine receptor-channels can be measured using patch clamp

individual receptor-channels conduct all-or-none unitary currents

four factors determine the end-plate current

the molecular properties of the acetylcholine receptor-channel are known

an overall view

postscript: the end-plate current can be calculated from an equivalent circuit

content

199

the ACh receptors that produce the end-plate potential differ in two important ways from the voltage-gated channels that generate the action potential in muscle. first, the action potential is generated by two distinct classes of voltage-gated channels that are activated sequentially, one selective for Na+ and the other for K+. in contrast, the ACh receptor-channel alone generates the end-plate potential by allowing both Na+ and K+ to pass with nearly equal permeability
second, the Na+ flux through voltage-gated channels is regenerative: by increasing the depolarization of the cell, the Na+ influx opens more voltage-gated Na+ channels. this regenerative feature is responsible for the all-or-none property of the action potential. in contrast, the number of ACh receptor-channels opened during the synaptic potential is fixed by the amount of ACh available. the depolarization produced by Na+ influx through these ligand-gated channels does not lead to the opening of more ACh-gated channels and cannot produce an action potential. to trigger an action potential, a synaptic potential must recruit neighboring voltage-gated channels