Identification of a Munc13-sensitive step in chromaffin cell large dense-core vesicle exocytosis

  1. Kwun-nok Mimi Man
  2. Cordelia Imig
  3. Alexander Matthias Walter
  4. Paulo S Pinheiro
  5. David R Stevens
  6. Jens Rettig
  7. Jakob B Sørensen
  8. Benjamin H Cooper
  9. Nils Brose
  10. Sonja M Wojcik  Is a corresponding author
  1. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Experimentelle Medizin, Germany
  2. Leibniz-Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Germany
  3. University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  4. Saarland University, Germany

Abstract

It is currently unknown whether the molecular steps of large dense-core vesicle (LDCV) docking and priming are identical to the corresponding reactions in synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis. Munc13s are essential for SV docking and priming, and we systematically analyzed their role in LDCV exocytosis using chromaffin cells lacking individual isoforms. We show that particularly Munc13-2 plays a fundamental role in LDCV exocytosis, but in contrast to synapses lacking Munc13s, the corresponding chromaffin cells do not exhibit a vesicle docking defect. We further demonstrate that ubMunc13-2 and Munc13-1 confer Ca2+-dependent LDCV priming with similar affinities, but distinct kinetics. Using a mathematical model, we identify an early LDCV priming step that is strongly dependent upon Munc13s. Our data demonstrate that the molecular steps of SV and LDCV priming are very similar while SV and LDCV docking mechanisms are distinct.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Kwun-nok Mimi Man

    Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Experimentelle Medizin, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Cordelia Imig

    Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Experimentelle Medizin, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Alexander Matthias Walter

    Leibniz-Institute for Molecular Pharmacology, Berlin, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Paulo S Pinheiro

    Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Lundbeck Foundation Center for Biomembranes in Nanomedicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. David R Stevens

    Department of Physiology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Jens Rettig

    Department of Physiology, Saarland University, Homburg, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Jakob B Sørensen

    Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Lundbeck Foundation Center for Biomembranes in Nanomedicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Benjamin H Cooper

    Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Experimentelle Medizin, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Nils Brose

    Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Experimentelle Medizin, Göttingen, Germany
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  10. Sonja M Wojcik

    Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Experimentelle Medizin, Göttingen, Germany
    For correspondence
    wojcik@em.mpg.de
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Axel T Brunger, Stanford University, United States

Ethics

Animal experimentation: All experiments were performed in compliance with the regulations of the local Animal Care and Use Committee of Lower Saxony, Oldenburg, Germany.

Version history

  1. Received: August 5, 2015
  2. Accepted: November 16, 2015
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: November 17, 2015 (version 1)
  4. Version of Record published: March 8, 2016 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2015, Man et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 2,691
    views
  • 685
    downloads
  • 40
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Kwun-nok Mimi Man
  2. Cordelia Imig
  3. Alexander Matthias Walter
  4. Paulo S Pinheiro
  5. David R Stevens
  6. Jens Rettig
  7. Jakob B Sørensen
  8. Benjamin H Cooper
  9. Nils Brose
  10. Sonja M Wojcik
(2015)
Identification of a Munc13-sensitive step in chromaffin cell large dense-core vesicle exocytosis
eLife 4:e10635.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10635

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10635

Further reading

    1. Neuroscience
    Songyao Zhang, Tuo Zhang ... Tianming Liu
    Research Article

    Cortical folding is an important feature of primate brains that plays a crucial role in various cognitive and behavioral processes. Extensive research has revealed both similarities and differences in folding morphology and brain function among primates including macaque and human. The folding morphology is the basis of brain function, making cross-species studies on folding morphology important for understanding brain function and species evolution. However, prior studies on cross-species folding morphology mainly focused on partial regions of the cortex instead of the entire brain. Previously, our research defined a whole-brain landmark based on folding morphology: the gyral peak. It was found to exist stably across individuals and ages in both human and macaque brains. Shared and unique gyral peaks in human and macaque are identified in this study, and their similarities and differences in spatial distribution, anatomical morphology, and functional connectivity were also dicussed.

    1. Neuroscience
    Avani Koparkar, Timothy L Warren ... Lena Veit
    Research Article

    Complex skills like speech and dance are composed of ordered sequences of simpler elements, but the neuronal basis for the syntactic ordering of actions is poorly understood. Birdsong is a learned vocal behavior composed of syntactically ordered syllables, controlled in part by the songbird premotor nucleus HVC (proper name). Here, we test whether one of HVC’s recurrent inputs, mMAN (medial magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium), contributes to sequencing in adult male Bengalese finches (Lonchura striata domestica). Bengalese finch song includes several patterns: (1) chunks, comprising stereotyped syllable sequences; (2) branch points, where a given syllable can be followed probabilistically by multiple syllables; and (3) repeat phrases, where individual syllables are repeated variable numbers of times. We found that following bilateral lesions of mMAN, acoustic structure of syllables remained largely intact, but sequencing became more variable, as evidenced by ‘breaks’ in previously stereotyped chunks, increased uncertainty at branch points, and increased variability in repeat numbers. Our results show that mMAN contributes to the variable sequencing of vocal elements in Bengalese finch song and demonstrate the influence of recurrent projections to HVC. Furthermore, they highlight the utility of species with complex syntax in investigating neuronal control of ordered sequences.