Helping thy neighbors: spillover at the mossy fiber glomerulus.
Neurotransmitter "spillover" between neighboring synapses challenges the principle of synapse specificity. In this issue of Neuron, show that release from neighboring presynaptic sites contributes significantly to AMPA receptor-mediated postsynaptic currents at cerebellar mossy fiber synapses. Unexpectedly, spillover is predicted to improve the reliability and reduce the variability of transmission at this glomerular synapse.
Otis
Thomas
T
Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013570:Synaptic Membranes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*
D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D018698:Glutamic Acid