Anaphy Lecture

TWO TYPES OF SYNAPSE

Electrical Synapse
Occur between cells connected ✓ Pre-Synaptic
by gap junctions, which is a 2nm - The place where the
gap between adjacent cell electrical signal is
membranes where cytoplasm is converted into a
shared through tunnel-like chemical signal
protein structures called ✓ Post-Synaptic
connexons. - A temporary change in
Allows cytoplasm to freely flow the electric polarization
from one cell to the next, the of the membrane of a
adjacent cells function like one nerve cell.
cell.
The gap junctions allow Na+ to flow directly from one cell to a
neighboring cell.

Chemical Synapse
Occurs where a chemical messenger, called a neurotransmitter, is
used to communicate a message to an effector.
The essential components of a chemical synapse are the presynaptic
terminal, the synaptic cleft, and the postsynaptic membrane

NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Are chemical messengers that your body can’t function without
They carry chemical signals (“messages”) from one neuron to the
next target cell
The next target cell can be another nerve cell, a muscle cell or a
gland.
 Anaphy Lecture
TYPES OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Amino Acids
These neurotransmitters are involved in most functions of your
nervous system.
1. Glutamate
- The most common excitatory neurotransmitter of your
nervous system.
- The most abundant neurotransmitter in your brain.
- Plays a key role in cognitive functions like thinking,
learning and memory.
- Imbalances in glutamate are associated with
Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia, Parkinson’s disease and
Seizures
2. Gamma-aminobutyric acid
- The most common inhibitory neurotransmitter of your
nervous system, particularly in your brain.
- It regulates brain activity to prevent problems in the
areas of anxiety, irritability, concentration, sleep,
seizures and depression.
3. Glycine
- The most common inhibitory neurotransmitter in your
spinal cord
- It is involved in controlling hearing processing, pain
transmission and metabolism.

Monoamines
Monoamines neurotransmitters regulate consciousness, cognition,
attention and emotion.
Many disorders of your nervous system involve abnormalities of
monoamine neurotransmitters, and many drugs that people commonly
take affect these neurotransmitters.
 Anaphy Lecture
1. Serotonin
- An inhibitory neurotransmitter
- Serotonin helps regulate mood, sleep patterns,
sexuality, anxiety, appetite and pain.
- Disease associated with serotonin imbalance include
seasonal affective disorder, anxiety, depression,
fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
2. Histamine
- Histamine regulates body functions including
wakefulness, feeding behavior and motivation.
- Histamine plays a role in asthma, bronchospasm, mucosal
edema and multiple sclerosis.
3. Dopamine
- Dopamine plays a role in your body’s reward system,
which includes feeling pleasure, achieving heightened
arousal and learning
- Dopamine also helps with focus, concentration, memory,
sleep, mood and motivation.
- Many highly addictive drugs (cocaine,
methamphetamines, amphetamines) act directly on the
dopamine system.
- Disease associated with dysfunction of the dopamine
system include Parkinson’s disease, Schizophrenia,
Bipolar disease, Restless legs syndrome and Attention
deficit.
4. Epinephrine
- Epinephrine (also called adrenaline) and norepinephrine
(see below) are responsible for your body’s so-called
“flight-or-flight” response” to fear and stress.
- Too much epinephrine can lead to high blood pressure,
diabetes, heart disease and other health problems.
- As a drug, epinephrine is used to treat anaphylaxis,
asthma attacks, cardiac arrest and severe infections.
 Anaphy Lecture
5. Norepinephrine
- Also called noradrenaline
- Increases blood pressure and heart rate
- It’s most widely known for its effects on alertness,
arousal, decision-making, attention and focus.

Peptides
Peptides are polymers or chains of amino acids
1. Endorphins
- The body’s natural pain reliever
- Plays a role in our perception of pain
- Release of endorphins reduces pain, as well as causes
“feel good” feelings.
- Low levels of endorphins may play a role in fibromyalgia
and some types of headaches.

Acetylcholine
This excitatory neurotransmitter does a number of functions in your
central nervous system (CNS [brain and spinal cord]) and in your
peripheral nervous system (nerves that branch from the CNS).
Released by most neurons in the autonomic nervous system
regulating heart rate, blood pressure and gut motility.
Plays a role in muscle contractions, memory, motivation, sexual
desire, sleep and learning.
Imbalances in acetylcholine levels are linked with health issues,
including Alzheimer’s disease, seizures and muscle spasms,

how do neurotransmitters work?

Cell Body. The cell body is vital to producing neurotransmitters and
maintaining the function of the nerve cell.
Axon. The axon carries the electrical signals along the nerve cell to
the axon terminal.
 Anaphy Lecture
Axon Terminal. This is where the electrical message is changed to a
chemical signal using neurotransmitters to communicate with the
next group of nerve cells, muscle cells and organs.

what action do neurotransmitters transit to the

target cell?
Neurotransmitters transmit one of the three possible actions in
their messages, depending on the specific neurotransmitter.
1. Excitatory
- “Excite” the neuron and cause it to “fire off the
message”, meaning, the message continues to be passed
along to the next cell.
- Examples of excitatory neurotransmitters include
glutamate, epinephrine and norepinephrine.
2. Inhibitory
- Block or prevent the chemical message from being
passed along any farther.
- Gamma-aminobutyric acid, glycine and serotonin are
examples of inhibitory neurotransmitters.
3. Modulatory
- Influence the effects of other chemical messengers.
- They “tweak” or adjust how cells communicate at the
synapse.
- They also affect a larger number of neurons at the same
time.

NEUROTRANSMITTER RELEASE
The major cytoplasmic organelles within pre-synaptic terminals are
mitochondria and numerous membrane-bound synaptic vesicles
In response to an action potential, voltage-gated Ca2+ channels open
in the pre-synaptic cell’s axon terminal
Ca2+ serves as an intracellular signal due to induce exocytosis of the
synaptic vesicles
 Anaphy Lecture
What happens to the neurotransmitter after the
release?
Neurotransmitter:

Fade away (a process called diffusion)

Are reabsorbed and reused by the nerve cell that released it (a
process called reuptake)
Are broken down by enzymes within the synapse so it can’t be
recognized or bind to the receptor cell (a process called
degradation).