A mercaptocholine used as a reagent for the determination of CHOLINESTERASES. It also serves as a highly selective nerve stain.

An agent used as a substrate in assays for cholinesterases, especially to discriminate among enzyme types.

An aspect of cholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.8).

Cholinesterases are a group of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of acetylcholine and other choline esters, playing crucial roles in the termination of impulse transmission at cholinergic synapses and neuro-muscular junctions, and in the metabolism of certain drugs and toxic substances.

An enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of ACETYLCHOLINE to CHOLINE and acetate. In the CNS, this enzyme plays a role in the function of peripheral neuromuscular junctions. EC 3.1.1.7.

Drugs that inhibit cholinesterases. The neurotransmitter ACETYLCHOLINE is rapidly hydrolyzed, and thereby inactivated, by cholinesterases. When cholinesterases are inhibited, the action of endogenously released acetylcholine at cholinergic synapses is potentiated. Cholinesterase inhibitors are widely used clinically for their potentiation of cholinergic inputs to the gastrointestinal tract and urinary bladder, the eye, and skeletal muscles; they are also used for their effects on the heart and the central nervous system.