This Article Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (13) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kavalali, E. T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kavalali, E. T. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Synaptic Vesicle Reuse and Its Implications

Center for Basic Neuroscience and Department of Physiology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Ege.Kavalali{at}UTSouthwestern.edu

Presynaptic nerve terminals are exquisite vesicle trafficking machines. Neurotransmission is sustained by constant recycling of a handful of vesicles. Therefore, the rate and the pathway of vesicle trafficking can critically determine synaptic efficacy during activity. However, it is yet unclear whether synaptic vesicle recycling becomes rate limiting on a rapid time scale during physiologically relevant forms of activity in the brain. Several forms of synaptic plasticity arise from persistent alterations in the dynamics of vesicle trafficking in presynaptic terminals. What makes presynaptic forms of plasticity particularly interesting is that they not only increase or decrease the amplitude of synaptic responses but also cause frequency-dependent changes in neurotransmission. In this manner, plasticity can alter the information coding in neural circuits beyond simple scaling of synaptic responses. However, studying the synaptic vesicle cycle beyond exocytosis and endocytosis has been difficult. In the past decade, several methods have been developed to infer vesicles’ trajectory during their cycle in the synapse. Nevertheless, several questions remain. A better understanding of the role of synaptic vesicle trafficking in neurotransmission will require novel approaches that either combine existing methods or the development of new methods to trace vesicles during their cycle. Recent evidence suggests that various presynaptic proteins involved in the synaptic function and homeostasis are either mutated or altered in their expression in several neurological and psychiatric disorders. Therefore, elucidation of the mechanisms that underlie the synaptic vesicle cycle may reveal novel therapeutic targets for brain disorders.

Key Words: Neurotransmission • Synaptic vesicle recycling • FM1-43 • Synaptophluorin • Endocytosis • Lysosomal storage disorders • Schizophrenia

The Neuroscientist, Vol. 12, No. 1, 57-66 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1073858405281852


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. J. Farnsworth, T. J. Volz, G. R. Hanson, and A. E. Fleckenstein Cocaine Alters Vesicular Dopamine Sequestration and Potassium-Stimulated Dopamine Release: The Role of D2 Receptor Activation J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., March 1, 2009; 328(3): 807 - 812. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. Petrov, A. R. Giniatullin, G. F. Sitdikova, and A. L. Zefirov The Role of cGMP-Dependent Signaling Pathway in Synaptic Vesicle Cycle at the Frog Motor Nerve Terminals J. Neurosci., December 3, 2008; 28(49): 13216 - 13222. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. T. Kavalali Multiple vesicle recycling pathways in central synapses and their impact on neurotransmission J. Physiol., December 15, 2007; 585(3): 669 - 679. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Q. Zhang, Y.-Q. Cao, and R. W. Tsien Quantum dots provide an optical signal specific to full collapse fusion of synaptic vesicles PNAS, November 6, 2007; 104(45): 17843 - 17848. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Teng, M. Y. Lin, and R. S. Wilkinson Macroendocytosis and endosome processing in snake motor boutons J. Physiol., July 1, 2007; 582(1): 243 - 262. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. P. Reyes-Ibarra, A. Garcia-Regalado, I. Ramirez-Rangel, A. L. Esparza-Silva, M. Valadez-Sanchez, J. Vazquez-Prado, and G. Reyes-Cruz Calcium-Sensing Receptor Endocytosis Links Extracellular Calcium Signaling to Parathyroid Hormone-Related Peptide Secretion via a Rab11a-Dependent and AMSH-Sensitive Mechanism Mol. Endocrinol., June 1, 2007; 21(6): 1394 - 1407. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. M. Olkkonen and E. Ikonen When intracellular logistics fails - genetic defects in membrane trafficking J. Cell Sci., December 15, 2006; 119(24): 5031 - 5045. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]