Butyrylcholinesterase and the cholinergic system
Open accessAbstract
The cholinergic system plays important roles in neurotransmission in both the peripheral and central nervous systems. The cholinergic neurotransmitter acetylcholine is synthesized by choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and its action terminated by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). The predominance of AChE has focused much attention on understanding the relationship of this enzyme to ChAT-positive cholinergic neurons. However, there is ample evidence that BuChE also plays an important role in cholinergic regulation. To elucidate the relationship of BuChE to neural elements that are producing acetylcholine, the distribution of this enzyme was compared to that of ChAT in the mouse CNS. Brain tissues from 129S1/SvImJ mice were stained for BuChE and ChAT using histochemical, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent techniques. Both BuChE and ChAT were found in neural elements throughout the CNS. BuChE staining with histochemistry and immunohistochemistry produced the same distribution of labeling throughout the brain and spinal cord. Immunofluorescent double labeling demonstrated that many nuclei in the medulla oblongata, as well as regions of the spinal cord, had neurons that contained both BuChE and ChAT. BuChE-positive neurons without ChAT were found in close proximity with ChAT-positive neuropil in areas such as the thalamus and amygdala. BuChE-positive neuropil was also found closely associated with ChAT-positive neurons, particularly in tegmental nuclei of the pons. These observations provide further neuroanatomical evidence of a role for BuChE in the regulation of acetylcholine levels in the CNS.
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Increasing acetylcholine concentration at the synapse by inhibiting AChE is one approach to slow down the progression of AD.
“An increase of acetylcholine concentration (ACh) at the synapse by inhibiting the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is one of the approaches to slow down the progression of AD [18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26].”
From Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Potential of Various Sesquiterpene Analogues for Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy (2021) · cites this paper as [23]
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- Authors
- Reid, G. A., Chilukuri, N., & Darvesh, S.
- Affiliations
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- United States Army (US)
- Corresponding author
- Darvesh, S.
- Venue
- Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-03
- Volume
- 234
- Pages
- 53-68
- ISSN
- 0306-4522 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2091134922
- Cited by
- 105
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Pesticide Exposure and Toxicity
- Keywords
- butyrylcholinesterase, acetylcholinesterase, choline acetyltransferase, cholinergic system, acetylcholine, cholinergic neurons, medulla oblongata, spinal cord, thalamus, amygdala
- MeSH terms
- Acetylcholine, Animals, Brain, Butyrylcholinesterase, Choline O-Acetyltransferase, Male, Medulla Oblongata, Spinal Cord, Mice, Molecular Imaging, Cholinergic Neurons
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