Acetylcholine and the monoamine neurotransmitters: synthesis, receptors and actions
How acetylcholine, dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, serotonin and histamine are made, stored, released, cleared and sensed, and how each step explains a drug action, a poisoning or a laboratory test.
Tier 1Medical sciences concept
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Classic small-molecule transmitters are acetylcholine (ACh) and the monoamines: the catecholamines (dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline), serotonin (5-HT) and histamine. Glutamate, GABA and glycine are covered in glutamate, GABA and excitotoxicity.
- Every transmitter goes through the same steps: synthesis, vesicular storage, calcium-triggered release, receptor binding, then termination by reuptake or enzymatic breakdown. Each step is a drug target.
- ACh is terminated by enzymatic hydrolysis in the cleft. Monoamines are terminated mostly by reuptake (DAT, NET, SERT), then broken down by MAO and COMT.
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Sources
- Principles of Neural Science (6th ed.)McGraw Hill (Kandel, Koester, Mack and Siegelbaum, 2021), 2021
- Australian Medicines HandbookAU/NZAustralian Medicines Handbook Pty Ltd, 2026
- Rang & Dale's Pharmacology (10th ed.)Elsevier (Ritter et al., 2023), 2023
- Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (14th ed.)McGraw Hill (Brunton and Knollmann, 2023), 2023
- Finberg JPM, Rabey JM. Inhibitors of MAO-A and MAO-B in psychiatry and neurology. Front Pharmacol 2016;7:340Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2016
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
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