| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Choline uptake into the presynaptic terminal of cholinergic neurons is mediated by the high affinity choline transporter and is essential for acetylcholine synthesis. Under specific conditions, P2X2 purinoceptors acquire permeability to large cations, and therefore potentially could act as a non-canonical pathway for choline entry into neurons. We tested this hypothesis in cholinergic neurons which express P2X2 purinoceptors. ATP-induced choline currents were observed in the cholinergic neurons. Pharmacological analysis confirmed that the cation channels mediating ATP-activated choline currents were P2X2 purinoceptors. Accordingly, P2X2-purinoceptors expressed in HEK293 cells were permeable to choline and similarly functioned as a choline uptake pathway. These findings support the hypothesis that P2X2 purinoceptors function as a novel choline transport pathway and may provide a new regulatory mechanism for cholinergic signaling transmission at synapses of cholinergic neurons.
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