Transmission at autonomic neuroeffector junctions

Abstract

For organs innervated by the autonomic nervous system, it is generally held that neuroeffector transmission is achieved by varicosities releasing transmitters some distance from the membranes of target cells. Transmitters are thought to diffuse through the extracellular space and interact with post-junctional receptors that are widely distributed over the cell membranes. This article presents an alternative view, suggesting that transmission can occur at organized neuroeffector contacts, that transmitters interact with restricted pools of specialized junctional receptors, and that many receptors on target cells are not involved in neuroeffector transmission.