Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are localized on retinotectal
axons' terminals in lower vertebrates. The effects of activation
of these receptors by endogenous acetylcholine were observed under
stimulation of mass optic fibers. This study was designed to determine
whether endogenous acetylcholine facilitates frog retinotectal
transmission, provided only the synapses of an individual optic
axon are activated, and to evaluate the feasible extent of
nicotinic facilitation in these synapses by applied agonist.
To this end, the effects of cholinergic drugs on the extracellular
action and synaptic potentials recorded from the terminal
arborization of a separate retinotectal fiber (in layer F of
the tectum) were investigated in vivo. Glutamatergic
nature of retinotectal synapses was reexamined by treatment
with kynurenic acid. Both kynurenic acid (0.25–1 mM) and
d-tubocurarine chloride (10–15 μM) significantly
depressed the synaptic potentials. Carbamylcholine chloride
(50–150 μM) evoked a large augmentation of the synaptic
potentials and a slight but statistically significant decrease
of the action potentials. D-tubocurarine reduced the effect
of carbamylcholine. Pilocarpine hydrochloride (50 μM) had
only a weak effect. The paired-pulse facilitation of the synaptic
potentials changed significantly under the action of
carbamylcholine and d-tubocurarine. The obtained results suggest
that the glutamate release from activated synapses of individual
retinotectal axons is facilitated by endogenous acetylcholine
via presynaptic nicotinic receptors. Under used
stimulation conditions, this modulation mechanism was employed
only partially since its activation by applied carbamylcholine
could enhance synaptic transmission up to 2.8 times.