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Presynaptic Neuron Research Paper

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Neurotransmission also known as synaptic transmission is a process of communication between the neurons in the nervous system. It is a process in which signaling molecules like neurotransmitters are released by neurons. Neurons are connected to one another. They receive information from other neurons through synapses and process this information and then send it as an output to other neurons. This is called a neural network, a group of neurons through which information flows from one neuron to other neuron. There are two types of neurons, the presynaptic neuron and the postsynaptic neuron. Presynaptic neuron is the neuron that lies before the synapse and transmits the information across the synapse to another neuron. The neuron that receives the information from presynaptic neuron is known as postsynaptic neuron. The process of this transmission between neighboring synapses is very well organized, but it is quite different for transmission that is mediated by neuropeptides and nitric oxide. Before knowing the process behind …show more content…

In the figure, glutamate is released from presynaptic neuron and it binds to a receptor on the postsynaptic neuron. This process causes the opening of Ca2+ influx, which leads to the activation of nitric oxide synthase. When NO is released it diffuses into the environment and interacts with presynaptic membrane. NOS production is dependent on Ca2+ influx. It is also dependent on cofactors such as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), flavin adenine mononucleotide (FAD) and flavin mononucleotide (FMN). These cofactors are essential in the process of transfer of electrons that produce NO. Due to NO’s short lifetime it is very difficult to measure the production directly. However, it can be measured indirectly though the correlation between Ca2+ and NOS. The details of NO’s role in modulating cellular process in the nervous system are ignorant and need future

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