title: Is synaptotagmin the calcium sensor?
abstract: After much debate, recent progress indicates that the synaptic vesicle protein synaptotagmin I probably functions as the calcium sensor for synchronous neurotransmitter release. Following calcium influx into presynaptic terminals, synaptotagmin I rapidly triggers the fusion of synaptic vesicles with the plasma membrane and underlies the fourth-order calcium cooperativity of release. Biochemical and genetic studies suggest that lipid and SNARE interactions underlie synaptotagmin's ability to mediate the incredible speed of vesicle fusion that is the hallmark of fast synaptic transmission.
authors.affiliation: Picower Center for Learning and Memory and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Motojiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshihara
authors.forename: Bill
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Adolfsen
authors.forename: J Troy
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Littleton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation / Q000502:physiology; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000378:metabolism; D050863:Synaptotagmin I; D050857:Synaptotagmins
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C494310:SYT1 protein, human; D050863:Synaptotagmin I; D050857:Synaptotagmins; D002118:Calcium