| Abstract: | A prerequisite for every biological system to develop and to continue to function (“to live”) is an effective communication between its components, i.e. its cells. This intercellular communication is essentially of a chemical nature: It employs neurotransmitters and hormones as messengers, and receptors as the receivers of transmitted signals. As is typical for all communication systems, biological signal processes usually also utilize only relatively small amounts of material. This general rule, however, does not apply to some synaptic communication systems. One typical exception, for instance, is the nerve-muscle synapse and, in particular, its special form, the nerve-electroplaque synapse of electric fish. These systems, therefore, lend themselves to biochemical studies permitting investigation of the molecular basis of biological communication processes. Thus, the acetylcholine receptor of the plasma membrane of the postsynaptic cell was established as a structurally and functionally rather complicated “transducer system” responsible for both the reception of the chemical message and its conversion into an electrical activity of the receiving cell. |
