title: An excess-calcium-binding-site model predicts neurotransmitter release at the neuromuscular junction.
abstract: Despite decades of intense experimental studies, we still lack a detailed understanding of synaptic function. Fortunately, using computational approaches, we can obtain important new insights into the inner workings of these important neural systems. Here, we report the development of a spatially realistic computational model of an entire frog active zone in which we constrained model parameters with experimental data, and then used Monte Carlo simulation methods to predict the Ca(2+)-binding stoichiometry and dynamics that underlie neurotransmitter release. Our model reveals that 20-40 independent Ca(2+)-binding sites on synaptic vesicles, only a fraction of which need to bind Ca(2+) to trigger fusion, are sufficient to predict physiological release. Our excess-Ca(2+)-binding-site model has many functional advantages, agrees with recent data on synaptotagmin copy number, and is the first (to our knowledge) to link detailed physiological observations with the molecular machinery of Ca(2+)-triggered exocytosis. In addition, our model provides detailed microscopic insight into the underlying Ca(2+) dynamics during synapse activation.
authors.affiliation: National Resource for Biomedical Supercomputing, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. dittrich@psc.edu
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dittrich
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pattillo
authors.forename: J Darwin
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Soyoun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Joel R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Stiles
authors.forename: Stephen D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Meriney
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D005089:Exocytosis; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000378:metabolism*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000378:metabolism; D050857:Synaptotagmins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D050857:Synaptotagmins; D002118:Calcium