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acetylcholinesterase

 
American Heritage Dictionary:

a·ce·tyl·cho·li·nes·ter·ase

(ə-sēt'l-kō'lə-nĕs'tə-rās', -rāz') pronunciation
n.
Any of various enzymes in the blood and in certain tissues that catalyze the hydrolysis of acetylcholine.


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An enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine (ACh) into choline and acetic acid. Acetylcholinesterase is released onto the sarcolemma of muscle fibres and destroys ACh after the ACh has combined with receptors on the muscle fibre. Thus, acetylcholinesterase prevents continued muscle contraction in the absence of additional nervous stimulation.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary:

a·ce·tyl·cho·lin·es·ter·ase

Top
(ə-sēt'l-kō'lə-nĕs'tə-rās', -rāz')
n.

Any of various enzymes in the blood and in certain tissues that catalyze the hydrolysis of acetylcholine.

Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry:

acetylcholinesterase

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abbr.: AChE; EC 3.1.1.7; systematic name: acetylcholine acetylhydrolase; other names: true cholinesterase; cholinesterase I; an esterase enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of acetylcholine to choline and acetate; it also acts on a variety of acetic esters and catalyses transacetylations. It is found in or attached to cellular or basement membranes of presynaptic cholinergic neurons and postsynaptic cholinoceptive cells. A soluble form occurs in cerebrospinal fluid and within cholinergic neurons. It is inhibited by a number of drugs, e.g. physostigmine, and by several organophosphates. The 3-D structure is known for fragments obtained from the electric ray(fish).

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Saunders Veterinary Dictionary:

acetylcholinesterase

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An enzyme present in nervous tissue, muscle and red cells that catalyzes the hydrolysis of acetylcholine to choline and acetic acid; called also true cholinesterase. Abbreviated AChE.

  • a. antagonists — organophosphorus compounds and carbamates that act by inactivating acetylcholinesterase; hence poisoning by these compounds has parasympatheticomimetic manifestations.
 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved.  Read more
American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company Read more
 Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry. Oxford University Press. Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology © 1997, 2000, 2006 All rights reserved.  Read more
Saunders Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more

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