GPCR mediated regulation of synaptic transmission.
Synaptic transmission is a finely regulated mechanism of neuronal communication. The release of neurotransmitter at the synapse is not only the reflection of membrane depolarization events, but rather, is the summation of interactions between ion channels, G protein coupled receptors, second messengers, and the exocytotic machinery itself which exposes the components within a synaptic vesicle to the synaptic cleft. The focus of this review is to explore the role of G protein signaling as it relates to neurotransmission, as well as to discuss the recently determined inhibitory mechanism of Gβγ dimers acting directly on the exocytotic machinery proteins to inhibit neurotransmitter release.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 442 Robinson Research Building, 23rd Ave. South @ Pierce, Nashville, TN 37232-6600, USA. katherine.m.betke@Vanderbilt.Edu
Katherine M
KM
Betke
Christopher A
CA
Wells
Heidi E
HE
Hamm
D000818:Animals; D044387:GTP-Binding Protein beta Subunits / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D044388:GTP-Binding Protein gamma Subunits / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D013570:Synaptic Membranes / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*
D044387:GTP-Binding Protein beta Subunits; D044388:GTP-Binding Protein gamma Subunits; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled