The Calcium Channel C-Terminal and Synaptic Vesicle Tethering: Analysis by Immuno-Nanogold Localization.

ABSTRACT: At chemical synapses the incoming action potential triggers the influx of Ca²⁺ through voltage-sensitive calcium channels (CaVs, typically CaV2.1 and 2.2) and the ions binds to sensors associated with docked, transmitter filled synaptic vesicles (SVs), triggering their fusion and discharge. The CaVs and docked SVs are located within the active zone (AZ) region of the synapse which faces a corresponding neurotransmitter receptor-rich region on the post-synaptic cell. Evidence that the fusion of a SV can be gated by Ca²⁺ influx through a single CaV suggests that the channel and docked vesicle are linked by one or more molecular tethers (Stanley, 1993). Short and long fibrous SV-AZ linkers have been identified in presynaptic terminals by electron microscopy and we recent

SUBMITTER: Chen RHC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5371611 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature