In this review we are concerned with the mechanisms by which the electrical potential across the membrane of presynaptic nerve terminals regulates the release of neurotransmitter substances into the synaptic cleft . ions play a central role in this process: Release occurs when a voltage-depen dent channel in the presynaptic membrane opens, thus permitting an influx of ions and diffusion of in cytoplasm, followed by binding of at some cytoplasmic site that triggers the exocytotic release of quanta of neurotransmitter. These concepts, introduced mainly by the work of Katz and associates (Katz 1 969), comprise the Ca of trans mitter release, a hypothesis now widely accepted. Although the general role of as a presynaptic messenger is well supported, many important specifics of its action remain to be resolved. We review progress with these details in three parts, corresponding to
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Augustine et al. (1987) studied this question.