Early days in the research to localize skeletal muscle acetylcholinesterases

Abstract

Very early in the study of the mechanism of neuromuscular transmission in skeletal muscles, it was clear that the hydrolysis of acetylcholine by muscle cholinesterases within the time of the refractory period required a very high concentration of the enzyme near the motor terminals. David Nachmansohn and George B. Koelle and their collaborators obtained the first biochemical and histochemical data consistent with this prediction. Now that the various molecular forms of AChE have been satisfactorily described, it is possible to analyse the mechanisms by which they are anchored to the structures of the neuromuscular junction, and in particular, to the synaptic basal lamina.