Are there non-catalytic functions of acetylcholinesterases? Lessons from mutant animal models
- 21 January 2005
- Vol. 27 (2) , 189-200
- https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.20153
Abstract
Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) hydrolyses acetylcholine (ACh) ensuring the fast clearance of released neurotransmitter at cholinergic synapses. Many studies led to the hypothesis that AChE and the closely related enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) may play other, non‐hydrolytic roles during development.In this review, we compare data from in vivo studies performed on invertebrate and vertebrate genetic models. The loss of function of ache in these systems is responsible for the appearance of several phenotypes. In all aspects so far studied, the phenotypes can be explained by an excess of the undegraded substrate, ACh, leading to misfunction and pathological alterations. Thus, the lack of AChE catalytic activity in the mutants appears to be solely responsible for the observed phenotypes. None of them appears to require the postulated adhesive or other non‐hydrolytic functions of AChE. BioEssays 27:189–200, 2005.Keywords
This publication has 92 references indexed in Scilit:
- Four Genes Encode Acetylcholinesterases in the Nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae. cDNA Sequences, Genomic Structures, Mutations and in vivo ExpressionJournal of Molecular Biology, 2000
- DEVELOPMENT OF THE VERTEBRATE NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTIONAnnual Review of Neuroscience, 1999
- Acetylcholinesterase promotes the aggregation of amyloid-β-peptide fragments by forming a complex with the growing fibrils 1 1Edited by A. R. FershtJournal of Molecular Biology, 1997
- Replacement of the glycoinositol phospholipid anchor of Drosophila acetylcholinesterase with a transmembrane domain does not alter sorting in neurons and epithelia but results in behavioral defects.Molecular Biology of the Cell, 1996
- Transgenic expression of human acetylcholinesterase induces progressive cognitive deterioration in micePublished by Elsevier ,1995
- Characterization of a null mutation inace-1, the gene encoding class A acetylcholinesterase in the nematodeCaenorhabditis elegansFEBS Letters, 1995
- Cholinesterases preceding major tracts in vertebrate neurogenesisBioEssays, 1990
- Role of butyrylcholinesterase in canine tracheal smooth muscle functionFEBS Letters, 1990
- Drosophila melanogaster acetylcholinesterase geneJournal of Molecular Biology, 1989
- Acetylcholinesterase mutants in drosophila and their effects on the structure and function of the cental nervous systemJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1980