NORADRENALINE STORING VESICLES IN SYMPATHETIC NEURONS AND THEIR PUTATIVE ROLE IN NEUROTRANSMITTER RELEASE - AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

More than 25 years have passed since the original demonstration that p roteins such as chromogranin A and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase, which ar e co-stored together with noradrenaline in large dense cored vesicles in adrenergic nerves, are released by exocytosis. Despite much evidenc e in favour, it was for a long time thought that large dense cored ves icles were not eminently involved in the release of noradrenaline. The present review attempts to demonstrate, making use of evidence from d ifferent approaches, that the release of noradrenaline from sympatheti c neurons occurs ultimately from large dense cored vesicles. A model o f the secretory cycle is proposed.