Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 2, 2026

Sequential Photo-bleaching to Delineate Single Schwann Cells at the Neuromuscular Junction
Published on: January 11, 2013
Gangliosides in acetylcholine receptor-rich membranes from Torpedo marmorata and Discopyge tschudii
V Marcheselli1, J L Daniotti, A C Vidal
1Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Bahía Blanca, Argentina.
Abstract:
The ganglioside composition of membranes enriched in nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) from the electric rays Discopyge tschudii and Torpedo marmorata has been determined, and compared to that of total electric organ. A ganglioside having the chromatographic mobility of GM2 constitutes the major ganglioside (approximately 60%) in total D. tschudii electric organ, followed by a component with the mobility of GD3 (approximately 10%), and a component running just below GD1a (about 12%). Minor constituents running as GM3 (2%) and as polysialogangliosides (comprising 8-15%) were also observed. Purified native membranes of D. tschudii and T. marmorata displayed a similar profile, except that they were richer in a GM1-like component, and the proportion of GM2-like gangliosides was lower than that in total electric organ. Using a 125I-cholera toxin overlay assay on neuraminidase-treated high-performance thin layer chromatograms, the presence of GM1, GD1a and trace amounts of GD1b and GT1 (or GQ) were detected in D. Tschudii total membranes. Immunocytochemical trechniques showed the co-localization of gangliosides GQ1c/GT1c/GP1c, recognized by the monoclonal antibody Q211, and the AChR at the ventral, innervated face of the electrocyte.
Related Concept Videos
Membrane Lipids
Phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and sphingomyelin are the most common phospholipids present in mammalian membranes. At physiological pH, phosphatidylserine is negatively charged, while the other three...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...
Cholinergic Neurons: Neurotransmission
Cholinergic Receptors: Muscarinic
The subtypes M1, M3, and M5 couple with the Gq subunit and activate the phospholipase C (PLC) activity, mobilizing intracellular Ca2+. Activation...
Cholinergic Receptors: Nicotinic
There are two types of nicotinic receptors: neuromuscular (NM/NM/N1) and neuronal (NN/NN/N2). The two families differ based on their location and selectivity to...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...

