Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Acetylcholine |
AcetylcholineNoun1. A neurotransmitter that is a derivative of choline; released at the ends of nerve fibers in the somatic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Health | A neurotransmitter. Acetylcholine in vertebrates is the major transmitter at neuromuscular junctions, autonomic ganglia, parasympathetic effector junctions, a subset of sympathetic effector junctions, and at many sites in the central nervous system. It is generally not used as an administered drug because it is broken down very rapidly by cholinesterases, but it is useful in some ophthalmological applications. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The chemical compound acetylcholine, often abbreviated as ACh, was the first neurotransmitter to be identified. It is a chemical transmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) as well as in the parasympathetic nervous system in many organisms including humans. Acetylcholine is an ester of acetic acid and choline with chemical formula CH3COOCH2CH2N+(CH3)3 and structure:
This structure is reflected in the systematic name, 2-(acetyloxy)-N,N,N-trimethylethanaminium.
It is released by motor nerve cells and, when it binds to acetylcholine receptors of muscle fibers, stimulates those fibers to contract. Acetylcholine is also used in the brain, where it tends to cause excitatory actions. The glands that receive impulses from the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system are also stimulated in the same way. This is why an increase in acetylcholine causes a decreased heart rate and increased production of saliva.
Acetylcholine is synthesized in certain neurons by the enzyme choline acetyltransferase from the compounds choline and acetyl-CoA.
Normally, the acetylcholine is quickly removed after having performed its action; this is done by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase which converts acetylcholine into choline and acetate. The devastating effects of nerve agents are due to their inhibition of this enzyme, resulting in continuing stimulation of the muscles, glands and central nervous system. Certain insecticides are effective because they inhibit this enzyme in insects. On the other hand, since a shortage of acetylcholine in the brain has been associated with Alzheimer's disease, some drugs that inhibit acetylcholinesterase are used in the treatment of that disease.
Botulin acts by suppressing the release of acetylcholine. Nicotine acts by increasing the activity of certain acetylcholine receptors, as does muscarine. Conversely, atropine and scopolamine act by blocking these receptors.
The disease myasthenia gravis, characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue, occurs when the body inappropriately produces antibodies against acetylcholine receptors, and thus inhibits proper acetylcholine signal transmission. Drugs which competitively inhibit acetylcholinesterase (e.g., neostigmine or physostigmine) are effective in treating this disorder.
External links:
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Acetylcholine."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| AChR | English | Acetylcholine Receptor | Chemistry, Industry |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Crosswords: Acetylcholine |
| English words defined with "acetylcholine": anticholinergic, anticholinergic drug ♦ cholinergic, cholinesterase ♦ Loewi ♦ myasthenia, myasthenia gravis ♦ Otto Loewi. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "acetylcholine": acetylcholine receptor, Acetylcholinesterase ♦ Basal Nucleus of Meynert, Botulinum Toxins ♦ Choline O-Acetyltransferase, Cholinergic Agents, Cholinergic Antagonists, Cholinergic Fibers, cholinergic receptor, cholinoceptor ♦ Ethidium ♦ Ganglionic Stimulants ♦ Hemicholinium 3 ♦ Neuromuscular Blocking Agents, Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents, Nicotinic Antagonists ♦ Parasympathetic Fibers, Postganglionic, Parasympathomimetics ♦ Receptors, Cholinergic ♦ Scorpion Venoms, Sympathetic Fibers, Postganglionic. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The body uses these nutrients to synthesize acetylcholine. (references) | |
Many antidepressants suppress activity in the neurons that use acetylcholine. (references) | ||
In the body, acetylcholine released at nerve endings causes muscle contraction. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Acetylcholine" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 93.22% of the time. "Acetylcholine" is used about 59 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 93.22% | 55 | 45,713 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 3.39% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (proper) | 3.39% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 59 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "acetylcholine": acetylcholine receptor. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "acetylcholine": acetylcholine-receptor-inducing. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
acetylcholine | 82 |
acetylcholine receptor | 7 |
acetylcholine receptors | 6 |
acetylcholine adhd | 4 |
acetylcholine structure | 4 |
acetylcholine herb | 3 |
acetylcholine neurotransmitters | 2 |
acetylcholine nicotinic receptors | 2 |
acetylcholine muscarinic receptor | 2 |
acetylcholine ashwagandha | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "acetylcholine"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 乙酰胆碱. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | acetylcholin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | acetylcholine. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | asetyylikoliini. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | acétylcholine. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Azetylcholin, Acetylcholin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | χολινεργικός υποδοχέας (acetylcholine receptor, cholinergic receptor, cholinoceptor, Receptor specifically sensitive to acetylcholine.Cholinoceptors are of two main subtypes:muscarinic and nicotinic cholinoceptors.). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | acetilcolina. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | アスペルギルス症 (ASEAN, aspergillosis, ASROC, assessment, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, athlete, athlete fund, athletic, athletic club, athletics, leisure facilities). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | アセチルコリン . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | acetylcholineay acetilcolina. (various references) ацетилхлорин. (various references) acetilcolina (A C H, acetyl-cholinesterase). (various references) kolinerg receptor (acetylcholine receptor, cholinergic receptor, cholinoceptor, Receptor specifically sensitive to acetylcholine.Cholinoceptors are of two main subtypes:muscarinic and nicotinic cholinoceptors.). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "acetylcholine": acetylcholines, acetylcholinesterase, acetylcholinesterases. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-c-e-e-h-i-l-l-n-o-t-y" | |
-2 letters: technically. | |
-3 letters: acetylenic, ethnically, hectically, inchoately. | |
-4 letters: chelation, cochineal, conically, echolalic, ethically, ethylenic, haecceity, halocline, laccolith, linoleate, ontically, technical, thylacine, tonically. | |
-5 letters: acetonic, acetylic, anechoic, anethole, atechnic, calycine, canticle, catechin, catechol, catholic, chancily, chenille, choicely, cliental, cochleae, coitally, cyanotic, cyclitol, cyclonal, echinate, election, elenchic, elenctic, ethnical, hectical, hecticly, inchoate, lactonic, lancelet, lenticel, localite, locality, ocellate, tenaille, teocalli. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-c-e-e-h-i-l-l-n-o-t-y" | |
+1 letter: acetylcholines. | |
+4 letters: chlortetracycline. | |
+5 letters: chlortetracyclines. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)41 63 65 74 79 6C 63 68 6F 6C 69 6E 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).- -.-. . - -.--. .-.. -.-. .... --- .-.. .. -. . |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000001 01100011 01100101 01110100 01111001 01101100 01100011 01101000 01101111 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)A c e t y l c h o l i n e |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0041 0063 0065 0074 0079 006C 0063 0068 006F 006C 0069 006E 0065 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)35697186917869748178758071 |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Quotations: Non-fiction | 5. Usage Frequency 6. Expressions 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Abbreviations 10. Acronyms 11. Derivations 12. Anagrams | 13. Orthography 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
