Related Experiment Videos
Action of externally applied ATP on rat reticulospinal vasomotor neurons
M K Sun1, C Wahlestedt, D J Reis
1Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY 10021.
European Journal of Pharmacology
|November 24, 1992
Abstract:
In anesthetized rats, iontophoretic application of ATP excited the spinal cord-projection neurons in the rostral ventrolateral reticular nucleus of the medulla oblongata. The neuronal response to ATP was mimicked and then blocked by alpha,beta-methylene-ATP, a metabolically stable ATP analogue, and the response was abolished by suramin. Microinjections of ATP (3-100 pmol) into the rostral ventrolateral medulla produced a powerful pressor response. The results suggest that ATP may function as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator involved in medullary regulation of cardiovascular functions.