During the past decade it has become clear that cotransmission is the
rule rather than the exception in the autonomic nervous system. The ro
le of ATP as a cotransmitter has been most extensively investigated in
sympathetic nerves innervating smooth muscle preparations such as iso
lated vas deferens and arteries.This article describes how the role of
ATP as a sympathetic cotransmitter has been established by a combinat
ion of various experimental methods including classical organ bath pha
rmacology, electrophysiology and a variety of biochemical methods for
measuring neurotransmitter release. (C) 1996 Academic Press Ltd