Abstract
In a recent study concerning the noradrenaline (NA) release at the vasoconstrictor nerve endings in the cat calf muscles, the results suggested that the transmitter amount released per stimulus was only about 1/50.000 of the total regional NA content (Folkow et al., 1967) Assuming that, first, by far the major part of tissue NA is present in the varicosity granules (vesicles) and, second, the majority of varicosities discharge transmitter when an impulse arrives, it was deduced that some 400 NA molecules would be released per varicosity and impulse. Such an amount, which creates a peak NA concentration of 0.5 to 1 μg/m1 if evenly distributed in a junction gap having the size of 1 to 2 μ2 and a width of 1000 A, would correspond to only some 3% of the NA content of one granule, provided that the varicosity contains about 1000 granules and each granule about 15.000NA molecules. These figures were based on calculations of the number of varicosities in the rat peripheral adrenergic neuron and the total NA content of the corresponding tissue (Dahlström et al., 1966).
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Folkow, B., Häggendal, J. (1970). Some Aspects of the Quantal Release of the Adrenergic Transmitter. In: Schümann, HJ., Kroneberg, G. (eds) New Aspects of Storage and Release Mechanisms of Catecholamines. Bayer Symposium, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-49747-6_10
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