There is good reason to believe that the same agents also have a differentiating effect on functional (biochemical and biophysical) parameters, i.e., also act as “functiogens”.

Advances in experimental medicine and biology

It has now become very well established that compounds which in the mature organism function as neurotransmitters may play a major developmental role as “morphogens” (Turing, 1952) during development (Lauder, 1988). In some cases this occurs in regions where the compound in question is not utilized as a transmitter in the mature animal, but in other cases a neurotransmitter seems to be a morphogen for specifically those cells which are destined to become its target cells. Such a system has also been known for a long time in the autonomic nervous system where, for example, innervation directly affects receptor clustering. There is good reason to believe that the same agents also have a differentiating effect on functional (biochemical and biophysical) parameters, i.e., also act as “functiogens”.

There is good reason to believe that the same agents also have a differentiating effect on functional (biochemical and biophysical) parameters, i.e., also act as “functiogens”.

Dibutyryl cyclic AMP treatment of astrocytes in primary cultures as a substitute for normal morphogenic and 'functiogenic' transmitter signals.