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Updated: Oct 15, 2026
Aplysia Ganglia Preparation for Electrophysiological and Molecular Analyses of Single Neurons
Published on: January 13, 2014
Giant identified NO-releasing neurons and comparative histochemistry of putative nitrergic systems in gastropod
1The Whitney Laboratory and Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, St. Augustine, Florida 32086, USA. moroz@whitney.ufl.edu
Abstract:
Gastropod molluscs provide attractive model systems for behavioral and cellular analyses of the action of nitric oxide (NO), specifically due to the presence of many relatively giant identified nitrergic neurons in their CNS. This paper reviews the data relating to the presence and distribution of NO as well as its synthetic enzyme NO synthase (NOS) in the CNS and peripheral tissues in ecologically and systematically different genera representing main groups of gastropod molluscs. Several species (Lymnaea, Pleurobranchaea, and Aplysia) have been analyzed in greater detail with respect to immunohistochemical, biochemical, biophysical, and physiological studies to further clarify the functional role of NO in these animals.
