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Catecholaminergic neurotransmission: flagship of all neurobiology

L. Stjärne 1
1
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm,
Sweden
Correspondence to Lennart Stjärne, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology,
Karolinska Institutet, S-17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
Copyright 1999 Scandinavian Physiological Society
KEYWORDS
catecholamines • chemical neurotransmission • history • receptors • storage vesicles •
sympathoadrenal • visualization of transmitter

ABSTRACT
The paper describes, with focus on the first half of the century, the roles played by
study of the sympathoadrenal system for developing modern neurobiology.
Adrenaline isolated from extracts of adrenal medulla was the first intercellular
messenger to be chemically identified and synthesized. Similarities between effects of
adrenaline and sympathetic nerve stimulation led to the first concrete proposal of
chemical neurotransmission. That effluent from a sympathetically or
parasympathetically stimulated frog heart induced acceleration or slowing of an
unstimulated recipient heart was the first conclusive proof of chemical
neurotransmission. Acetylcholine (in parasympathetic or somatomotor) and
noradrenaline (in sympathetic nerves) are the first identified mammalian
neurotransmitters. The existence of a `receptive substance for adrenaline' represents
the first proposal that target cells recognize and react to the released transmitter.
Deviations from the `-ergic' concept, in which sympathetic and parasympathetic
nerves are termed `adrenergic' and `cholinergic', led to discovery of `non-adrenergic,
non-cholinergic' nerves and a range of other transmitters. That some effects of e.g.
sympathetic nerve stimulation are not blocked by any noradrenaline antagonist led to
the recognition that some nerves utilize more than one transmitter. Noradrenaline in
sympathetic nerves was the first neurotransmitter to be visualized in the light
microscope. Catecholamines in adrenal medulla and sympathetic nerves were the first
messengers to be shown to be stored in vesicles.