Neurotransmitters responsible for purinergic motor neurotransmission and regulation of GI motility

Classical concepts of peripheral neurotransmission were insufficient to explain enteric inhibitory neurotransmission. Geoffrey Burnstock and colleagues developed the idea that ATP or a related purine satisfies the criteria for a neurotransmitter and serves as an enteric inhibitory neurotransmitter in GI muscles. Cloning of purinergic receptors and development of specific drugs and transgenic mice have shown that enteric inhibitory responses depend upon P2Y1 receptors in post-junctional cells. The post-junctional cells that transduce purinergic neurotransmitters in the GI tract are PDGFR α+ cells and not smooth muscle cells (SMCs).
Source: Autonomic Neuroscience: Basic and Clinical - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Source Type: research