title: External Ca2+ dependency of synaptic transmission in drosophila synaptotagmin I mutants.
abstract: To resolve some of differences in reports on the function of Synaptotagmin I (Syt I), we re-examined synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction of Drosophila embryos that have mutations in the Syt I gene (syt I). Two major questions addressed were which Ca2+ binding domain, C2A or C2B, sense Ca2+ and is Syt I a negative regulator of spontaneous vesicle fusion. Synaptic currents were induced by nerve stimulation or by high K+ treatment in external solutions containing various Ca2+ concentrations. In a null allele, syt I(AD4), synchronous synaptic currents were rarely observed but not abolished. The quantal content was about 1/60 of control but increased linearly with [Ca2+](e) with a slope of 0.95 (N) in the double logarithmic plot, in contrast to 3.01 in control. The slope of 1.06 in an allele, syt I(AD1), which lacks the second Ca2+ binding domain, C2B, was not different from in syt I(AD4). In another allele, syt I(AD3), in which one amino acid in C2B is mutated, synchronous synaptic transmission was also impaired and N was 1.54, which is significantly smaller than in control. In high K+ saline, the [Ca2+](e) dependency of vesicle release in syt I(AD4) was lower than in controls, whereas that in syt I(AD3) was even lower than in syt I(AD4), suggesting that syt I(AD3) is inhibiting vesicle fusion. These findings led us to conclude that C2B, not C2A, senses Ca2+, and Syt I is a negative regulator of vesicle fusion.
authors.affiliation: Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kidokoro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D000001:Calcimycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004330:Drosophila; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D015759:Ionomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D007476:Ionophores / Q000494:pharmacology; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D009218:Myosins / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000502:physiology; D011189:Potassium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000502:physiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D050863:Synaptotagmin I; D050857:Synaptotagmins; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D007476:Ionophores; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D050863:Synaptotagmin I; D050857:Synaptotagmins; D000001:Calcimycin; D015759:Ionomycin; D011189:Potassium Chloride; D009218:Myosins; D002118:Calcium