Evoked release of acetylcholine from the growing embryonic neuron

An excised patch of embryonic muscle membrane was used as a probe for measuring the release of acetylcholine (AcCho) from growing spinal neurons in Xenopus cell culture. The neuron was stimulated extracellularly at the soma, and the evoked AcCho release was monitored at the growth cone, along the neurite, and near the soma. For a majority of the neurons studied, a brief suprathreshold stimulation of the soma triggered a pulse of AcCho release from the growth cone. This release showed many of the characteristics reminiscent of the transmitter release at the nerve terminal of a mature neuromuscular synapse: it occurs within a few ms following the stimulation, depends on extracellular Ca2+ concentration, and exhibits depression and potentiation during and after high-frequency stimulation, respectively. Similar evoked release was also observed only at selected points along the neurite, and prolonged suprathreshold stimulus was required to induce release from the soma. These results indicate that some of the growing spinal neurons have acquired a substantial number of AcCho molecules as well as an efficient mechanism for excitation-secretion coupling at the growth cone, ready for establishing functional contact with the target muscle cell. This notion was further supported by the finding that the evoked AcCho release is capable of inducing suprathreshold excitation of the muscle cell within the first minute following neurite-muscle contact.