Christian Keine, Mohammed Al-Yaari ... Samuel M Young Jr
A combination of genetic, electrophysiological, and modeling approaches reveals that presynaptic Rac1 is a key molecule that controls synaptic strength and plasticity by regulating the synaptic vesicle cycle steps controlling the number of fusion competent synaptic vesicles.
The small GTPase Arf6 plays a role in setting the size of the readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles and in the definition of the recycling route for endocytosed vesicles.
Zohreh Farsi, Sindhuja Gowrisankaran ... Ira Milosevic
Parallel measurements of pH gradient and membrane potential at the single vesicle level have revealed that the synaptic vesicle acidification is initiated by removal of its clathrin coat, which blocks vesicular ATPase activity.
Clarinet, a novel C. elegans active zone protein with homology to vertebrate Piccolo and Rim, uses its different isoforms for diverse functions, including synaptic vesicle clustering, vesicle release and synaptogenesis.
Mathan K Raja, Julia Preobraschenski ... John F Wesseling
Synaptophysins and gyrins dampen synaptic strength selectively at low frequencies, hinting that synaptic transmission may play a frequency filtering role in biological computation that is more general than currently envisioned.
Analysis of neurons that lack the two neuronal dynamins, dynamin 1 and 3, demonstrates a pathway of synaptic vesicle reformation that does not require these two dynamins or clathrin-dependent budding.
The promising potential of plasma extracellular vesicle synaptic proteins as clinical biomarkers of disease progression in Parkinson's disease has been presented.
Spontaneous fusion of vesicles at synapses is regulated independently of fusion triggered by action potentials, adding to evidence that the two types of fusion have distinct functions.
A protein complex that enables cells to transport substances across their membranes, and that typically consists of four subunits, can also function as two hemicomplexes, each with two subunits.
Matthias Lübbert, R Oliver Goral ... Samuel M Young Jr
A novel region in the CaV2.1 α1 subunit regulates coupling of synaptic vesicles to CaV2.1 calcium channels, synaptic vesicle release and docking, and the size of the fast and total releasable pools of synaptic vesicles.