title: Synaptic Multivesicular Release in the Cerebellar Cortex: Its Mechanism and Role in Neural Encoding and Processing.
abstract: The number of synaptic vesicles released during fast release plays a major role in determining the strength of postsynaptic response. However, it remains unresolved how the number of vesicles released in response to action potentials is controlled at a single synapse. Recent findings suggest that the Cav2.1 subtype (P/Q-type) of voltage-gated calcium channels is responsible for inducing presynaptic multivesicular release (MVR) at rat cerebellar glutamatergic synapses from granule cells to molecular layer interneurons. The topographical distance from Cav2.1 channels to exocytotic Ca(2+) sensors is a critical determinant of MVR. In physiological trains of presynaptic neurons, MVR significantly impacts the excitability of postsynaptic neurons, not only by increasing peak amplitude but also by prolonging decay time of the postsynaptic currents. Therefore, MVR contributes additional complexity to neural encoding and processing in the cerebellar cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki, 444-8787, Japan. ssatake@nips.ac.jp.|School of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki, 444-8787, Japan. ssatake@nips.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shin'Ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Satake
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysical Chemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 1-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki, 444-8787, Japan.|School of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki, 444-8787, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imoto
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D020864:Calcium Channels, N-Type / Q000502:physiology*; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020864:Calcium Channels, N-Type
keywords: Ca2+ microdomain; Cav2 channel subtype; Excitatory postsynaptic current; Granule cell; Kinetics; Molecular layer interneuron; Paired-pulse ratio