Ignaz Wessler1,*, Heinz Kilbinger1, Fernando Bittinger2
and Charles James Kirkpatrick2
Departments of 1Pharmacology and 2Pathology, University
of Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Str. 67, D-55101 Mainz, Germany
*Corresponding author. FAX: +49-6131-393-6611
E-mail: wessler@mail.uni-mainz.de
Abstract: Acetylcholine, one of the most exemplary neurotransmitters,
has been detected in bacteria, algae, protozoa, tubellariae and primitive
plants, suggesting an extremely early appearance in the evolutionary process
and a wide expression in non-neuronal cells. In plants (Urtica dioica),
acetylcholine is involved in the regulation of water resorption and photosynthesis.
In humans, acetylcholine and/or the synthesizing enzyme, choline acetyltransferase,
have been demonstrated in epithelial (airways, alimentary tract, urogenital
tract, epidermis), mesothelial (pleura, pericardium), endothelial, muscle
and immune cells (granulocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages, mast cells). The
widespread expression of non-neuronal acetylcholine is accompanied by the
ubiquitous expression of cholinesterase and acetylcholine sensitive receptors
(nicotinic, muscarinic). Both receptor populations interact with more or
less all cellular signalling pathways. Thus, non-neuronal acetylcholine
can be involved in the regulation of basic cell functions like gene expression,
proliferation, differentiation, cytoskeletal organization, cell-cell contact
(tight and gap junctions, desmosomes), locomotion, migration, ciliary activity,
electrical activity, secretion and absorption. Non-neuronal acetylcholine
also plays a role in the control of unspecific and specific immune functions.
Future experiments should be designed to analyze the cellular effects of
acetylcholine in greater detail and to illuminate the involvement of the
non-neuronal cholinergic system in the pathogenesis of diseases such as
acute and chronic inflammation, local and systemic infection, dementia,
atherosclerosis, and finally cancer.
Keywords: Non-neuronal cholinergic system, Cytomolecule acetylcholine,
Plant, Human, Basic cell function
Copyright The Japanese Pharmacological Society
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