Stimulation by atropine of acetylcholine release and synthesis in cortical slices from rat brain

1. Cortical slices from rat brain were incubated in media containing the irreversible cholinesterase inhibitor soman and a high KCl concentration, and the release and synthesis of acetylcholine (ACh) were determined.2. Atropine enhanced the release and synthesis of ACh.3. Tetrodotoxin, a substance which blocks nervous conduction, did not influence the release and synthesis of ACh, in the absence or in the presence of atropine. Therefore the nerve endings are probably the site at which atropine acts when stimulating the release and synthesis of ACh.4. Pretreatment of the slices with botulinum type A toxin partially blocked the release and synthesis of ACh and reduced the extra amounts of ACh released and synthesized under the influence of atropine.5. Lowering the calcium or raising the magnesium concentration in the incubation medium reduced the release and synthesis of ACh and their enhancement by atropine.6. Physostigmine decreased the total extractable ACh content of the slices during incubation in a 25 mM KCl containing medium. This decrease was nearly prevented when the release and synthesis of ACh were inhibited by omission of the calcium ions from the medium, but was enhanced by atropine.7. The observations made with pretreatment by botulinum type A toxin, with changes in the calcium and magnesium concentration as well as with physostigmine, all support the theory that it is primarily the release of ACh which is enhanced by atropine and that its stimulating action on the synthesis results from the increased release.