END-PLATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does end-plate mean? 

• END-PLATE (noun)
  The noun END-PLATE has 1 sense:

1. the flattened end of a motor neuron that transmits neural impulses to a muscle

  Familiarity information: END-PLATE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• END-PLATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The flattened end of a motor neuron that transmits neural impulses to a muscle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

end-plate; endplate; motor end plate

Hypernyms ("end-plate" is a kind of...):

end organ (a specialized structure at the peripheral end of some motor or sensory nerve fibers)

Holonyms ("end-plate" is a part of...):

effector (a nerve fiber that terminates on a muscle or gland and stimulates contraction or secretion)

 Context examples 

Upon entry, the light chain portion of the toxin is activated and cleaves the protein SNAP-25, thereby preventing the fusion of acetylcholine (ACh)-containing synaptic vesicles with the cell membrane and, so, the release of ACh into the neuromuscular junction; subsequent binding of ACH to motor end-plate nicotinic acid receptors and ACh-mediated muscle contraction are thus blocked.

(botulinum toxin type A, NCI Thesaurus)