Bernard Katz

“Calcium ions are the essential link between the membrane depolarization and the quantal release of transmitter.”

“The most important feature of this hypothesis is that the elementary unit of transmitter release is not the single molecule, but a multi-molecular quantum of acetylcholine.”

“It became clear that the end-plate potential is built up of miniature units of uniform size.”

“The synapse is a region of functional specialization, where one nerve cell makes contact with another and passes on its message.”

“The quantal component of the end-plate potential, that is the miniature potential, represents the irreducible ‘biological unit’ of synaptic transmission.”

“The spontaneous miniature potentials are due to a random, and infrequent, leakage of single transmitter quanta from the resting nerve endings.”

“The idea of a chemical transmission of nerve effects, which has been the subject of our present discussion, has a long and distinguished history.”