Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an essential enzymatic component of the neuromuscular junction where it is responsible for terminating neurotransmission by the cholinergic motor neurons. The enzyme at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is contributed primarily by the skeletal muscle where it is produced at higher levels in the post-synaptic region of the fibers. The major form of AChE at the NMJ is a large asymmetric form consisting of three tetramers covalently attached to a three-stranded collagen-like tail which is responsible for anchoring it to the synaptic basal lamina. Its location and expression is regulated to a large extent by the motor neurons and occurs at the transcriptional, translational and post-translational levels. While its expression can be quite rapid in tissue cultured cells, its half-life in vivo appears to be quite long, about three weeks, although more rapidly turning over pools have been described. Finally the essential nature of this enzyme is underscored by the fact that no naturally occurring null mutations of the catalytic subunit have been described in higher organisms and the few dozen humans carrying mutations in the collagen tail responsible for anchoring the enzyme at the NMJ are severely affected.

乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）是神经肌肉接头的重要酶促成分，负责终止胆碱能运动神经元的神经传递。神经肌肉接合处（NMJ）的酶主要由骨骼肌贡献，在纤维的突触后区域以较高的水平产生。NMJ处AChE的主要形式是一种大的不对称形式，由三个共聚于三链胶原样尾部的四聚体组成，这三聚体负责将其锚定在突触基底膜上。它的位置和表达在很大程度上受到运动神经元的调节，并在转录，翻译和翻译后水平发生。尽管它在组织培养细胞中的表达可能非常快，但它在体内的半衰期似乎很长，大约三周，尽管已经描述了更快速的周转池。最后，这种酶的本质是这样的事实，即在高等生物中没有描述催化亚基的自然发生的空突变，并且几十个携带负责将酶锚定在NMJ上的胶原蛋白尾部突变的人受到严重影响。 。