Editing Chemical synapse (section)

==History and etymology==

During the 1950s, [[Bernard Katz]] and [[Paul Fatt]] observed spontaneous miniature synaptic currents at the frog [[neuromuscular junction]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Augustine|first1=George J.|last2=Kasai|first2=Haruo|date=2007-02-01|title=Bernard Katz, quantal transmitter release and the foundations of presynaptic physiology|journal=The Journal of Physiology|language=en|volume=578|issue=Pt 3|pages=623–625|doi=10.1113/jphysiol.2006.123224|pmid=17068096|pmc=2151334}}</ref> Based on these observations, they developed the 'quantal hypothesis' that is the basis for our current understanding of neurotransmitter release as [[exocytosis]] and for which Katz received the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] in 1970.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1970-10-24|title=Nobel prize.|journal=British Medical Journal|language=en|volume=4|issue=5729|pages=190|doi=10.1136/bmj.4.5729.190|pmid=4320287|pmc=1819734}}</ref> In the late 1960s, [[Ricardo Miledi]] and Katz advanced the hypothesis that depolarization-induced influx of calcium ions triggers [[exocytosis]].

[[Charles Scott Sherrington|Sir Charles Scott Sherringtonin]] coined the word 'synapse' and the history of the word was given by Sherrington in a letter he wrote to John Fulton:

{{blockquote|'I felt the need of some name to call the junction between nerve-cell and nerve-cell... I suggested using "syndesm"... He [ [[Michael Foster (physiologist)|Sir Michael Foster]] ] consulted his Trinity friend [[A. W. Verrall|Verrall]], the [[Euripides|Euripidean]] scholar, about it, and Verrall suggested "synapse" (from the Greek "clasp").'–Charles Scott Sherrington<ref name="Cowan"/>}}