Opponent vesicular transporters regulate the strength of glutamatergic neurotransmission in a C. elegans sensory circuit.

ABSTRACT: At chemical synapses, neurotransmitters are packaged into synaptic vesicles that release their contents in response to depolarization. Despite its central role in synaptic function, regulation of the machinery that loads vesicles with neurotransmitters remains poorly understood. We find that synaptic glutamate signaling in a C. elegans chemosensory circuit is regulated by antagonistic interactions between the canonical vesicular glutamate transporter EAT-4/VGLUT and another vesicular transporter, VST-1. Loss of VST-1 strongly potentiates glutamate release from chemosensory BAG neurons and disrupts chemotaxis behavior. Analysis of the circuitry downstream of BAG neurons shows that excess glutamate release disrupts behavior by inappropriately recruiting RIA interneurons to the BAG-associated

SUBMITTER: Choi JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8566550 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature