In vertebrates, nerve impulses travel from cell to cell by means of chemical messenger. Upon reaching the destination cell, the AcCho molecules dock into special receptors triggering a new electrical impulse. Much like a vacuum cleaner, the enzyme AcChoEase is constantly sweeping up and hydrolyzing AcCho during this process, so that the whole cycle can begin again. Chemicals that inhibit the action of AcChoEase are being used in the treatment of glaucoma, myasthenia gravis and, experimentally, Alzheimer's disease. In spite of the ability to exploit the enzyme, its precise mechanism of operation is still a mystery.
Electrostatic computations reveal the enzyme to be a single massive dipole.
Such a configuration of charge suggests an electrostatic mechanism for directing the positively charged AcCho into the gorge and towards the active site.