Neurotoxins As Tools for Studying Neuromuscular Transmission in Cholinergic Synapses

Abstract Cholinergic neuromuscular synapses in skeletal and respiratory muscles play a crucial role in respiration and movement, transmitting excitation from the motor neuron to the muscle fibers. Key players in this process include voltage-gated ion channels, the machinery for releasing neurotransmitter acetylcholine from nerve terminals, and receptor–channel complexes on the muscle fiber membrane. Neurotoxins specific to various molecular structures involved in synaptic function are widely used to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the processes that ensure the plasticity and high reliability of the synaptic machinery. This review examines presynaptic and postsynaptic neurotoxins that act on ion channels, neurosecretory processes, and postsynaptic receptors and are used to study neuromuscular transmission.