Retrograde signaling

Retrograde signaling in biology is a process whereby function of one part of a cell is controlled by feedback from another part of the cell, or where one cell sends reciprocal messages back to another cell that regulates it.

In cell biology, retrograde signaling occurs between different subcellular organelles. A typical example in plants is retrograde signaling from the plastid to control nuclear gene expression.

In neuroscience, retrograde signaling (or retrograde neurotransmission) refers more specifically to the process by which a retrograde messenger, such as anandamide or nitric oxide, is released by a postsynaptic dendrite or cell body, and travels "backwards" across a chemical synapse to bind to the axon terminal of a presynaptic neuron.

Retrograde signalling can go from plastids to the nucleus in plants, or from to the nucleus in yeast.

The primary purpose of retrograde neurotransmission is regulation of chemical neurotransmission. For this reason, retrograde neurotransmission allows neural circuits to create feedback loops. In the sense that retrograde neurotransmission mainly serves to regulate typical, anterograde neurotransmission, rather than to actually distribute any information, it is similar to electrical neurotransmission.

In contrast to conventional (anterograde) neurotransmitters, retrograde neurotransmitters are synthesized in the postsynaptic neuron, and bind to receptors on the axon terminal of the presynaptic neuron.

Endocannabinoids like anandamide are known to act as retrograde messengers, as is nitric oxide.

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