PHIL 2408 Lecture Notes - Reward System, Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate, Exocytosis
19 Dec 2019
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Document Summary
Catecholamines (ca) are a class of neurotransmitters that all have a similar chemical makeup: catechole + side chain. Catecholamines have a distinct structure of a benzene ring with two hydroxyl groups, an ethyl chain, and a terminal group. Catecholamines belong to the group of neurotransmitters called monoamines. All catecholamines have a catechol nucleus and one amine group (hence monoamine). There are three types of catecholamines: dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine. Da, the 1st catecholamine to be synthesized, is a derivative of the amino acid tyrosine, which is derived from your diet. Tyrosine is modified by the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (th) to form dihydroxyphenylalanine (dopa). Th is the rate limiting step in production of all catecholamines; Found in cytosol of all cells containing catecholamines; Th has negative feedback loop, where high levels of catecholamines inhibit th; Th also has a feedforward loop, where neurons firing at high rate stimulate th activity.
