title: The debate on the kiss-and-run fusion at synapses.
abstract: It has long been proposed that following vesicle fusion, a small pore might open and close rapidly without full dilation. Such 'kiss-and-run' vesicle fusion can in principle result in rapid vesicle recycling and influence the size and the kinetics of the resulting synaptic current. However, the existence of kiss-and-run remains highly controversial, as revealed by recent imaging and electrophysiological studies at several synapses, including hippocampal synapses, neuromuscular junctions and retinal bipolar synapses. Only a minor fraction of fusion events has been shown to be kiss-and-run, as determined using cell-attached capacitance recordings in endocrine cells, pituitary nerve terminals and calyx-type synapses. Further work is needed to determine whether kiss-and-run is a major mode of fusion and has a major role in controlling synaptic strength at synapses.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 35 Convent Drive, Bldg 35, Rm. 2B-1012, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Ling-Gang
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004702:Endocrine Glands / Q000502:physiology; D004705:Endocytosis / Q000502:physiology; D006054:Goldfish; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000502:physiology*