Differential requirement for protein synthesis in presynaptic unmuting and muting in hippocampal glutamate terminals

GABABR silencing of nerve terminals

Control of neurotransmission efficacy is central to theories of how the brain computes and stores information. Presynaptic G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are critical in this problem as they locally influence synaptic strength and can operate on a wide range of time scales. Among the mechanisms by which GPCRs impact neurotransmission is by inhibiting voltage-gated calcium (Ca2+) influx in the active zone. Here, using quantitative analysis of both single bouton Ca2+ influx and exocytosis, we uncovered an unexpected non-linear relationship between the magnitude of action potential driven Ca2+ influx and the concentration of external Ca2+ ([Ca2+]e). We find that this unexpected relationship is leveraged by GPCR signaling when operating at the nominal physiological set point for [Ca2+]e, 1.2 mM, to achieve complete silencing of nerve terminals. These data imply that the information throughput in neural circuits can be readily modulated in an all-or-none fashion at the single synapse level when operating at the physiological set point.

Platelet Activating Factor Enhances Synaptic Vesicle Exocytosis Via PKC, Elevated Intracellular Calcium, and Modulation of Synapsin 1 Dynamics and Phosphorylation

Platelet activating factor (PAF) is an inflammatory phospholipid signaling molecule implicated in synaptic plasticity, learning and memory and neurotoxicity during neuroinflammation. However, little is known about the intracellular mechanisms mediating PAF’s physiological or pathological effects on synaptic facilitation. We show here that PAF receptors are localized at the synapse. Using fluorescent reporters of presynaptic activity we show that a non-hydrolysable analog of PAF (cPAF) enhances synaptic vesicle release from individual presynaptic boutons by increasing the size or release of the readily releasable pool and the exocytosis rate of the total recycling pool. cPAF also activates previously silent boutons resulting in vesicle release from a larger number of terminals. The underlying mechanism involves elevated calcium within presynaptic boutons and protein kinase C activation. Furthermore, cPAF increases synapsin I phosphorylation at sites 1 and 3, and increases dispersion of synapsin I from the presynaptic compartment during stimulation, freeing synaptic vesicles for subsequent release. These findings provide a conceptual framework for how PAF, regardless of its cellular origin, can modulate synapses during normal and pathologic synaptic activity.

Innervation by a GABAergic neuron depresses spontaneous release in glutamatergic neurons and unveils the clamping phenotype of synaptotagmin-1

The role of spontaneously occurring release events in glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons and their regulation is intensely debated. To study the interdependence of glutamatergic and GABAergic spontaneous release, we compared reciprocally connected "mixed" glutamatergic/GABAergic neuronal pairs from mice cultured on astrocyte islands with "homotypic" glutamatergic or GABAergic pairs and autaptic neurons. We measured mEPSC and mIPSC frequencies simultaneously from both neurons. Neuronal pairs formed both interneuronal synaptic and autaptic connections indiscriminately. We find that whereas mEPSC and mIPSC frequencies did not deviate between autaptic and synaptic connections, the frequency of mEPSCs in mixed pairs was strongly depressed compared with either autaptic neurons or glutamatergic pairs. Simultaneous imaging of synapses, or comparison to evoked release amplitudes, showed that this decrease was not caused by fewer active synapses. The mEPSC frequency was negatively correlated with the mIPSC frequency, indicating interdependence. Moreover, the reduction in mEPSC frequency was abolished when established pairs were exposed to bicuculline for 3 d, but not by long-term incubation with tetrodotoxin, indicating that spontaneous GABA release downregulates mEPSC frequency. Further investigations showed that knockout of synaptotagmin-1 did not affect mEPSC frequencies in either glutamatergic autaptic neurons or in glutamatergic pairs. However, in mixed glutamatergic/GABAergic pairs, mEPSC frequencies were increased by a factor of four in the synaptotagmin-1-null neurons, which is in line with data obtained from mixed cultures. The effect persisted after incubation with BAPTA-AM. We conclude that spontaneous GABA release exerts control over mEPSC release, and GABAergic innervation of glutamatergic neurons unveils the unclamping phenotype of the synaptotagmin-1-null neurons.

Examination of synaptic vesicle recycling using FM dyes during evoked, spontaneous, and miniature synaptic activities

Synaptic vesicles in functional nerve terminals undergo exocytosis and endocytosis. This synaptic vesicle recycling can be effectively analyzed using styryl FM dyes, which reveal membrane turnover. Conventional protocols for the use of FM dyes were designed for analyzing neurons following stimulated (evoked) synaptic activity. Recently, protocols have become available for analyzing the FM signals that accompany weaker synaptic activities, such as spontaneous or miniature synaptic events. Analysis of these small changes in FM signals requires that the imaging system is sufficiently sensitive to detect small changes in intensity, yet that artifactual changes of large amplitude are suppressed. Here we describe a protocol that can be applied to evoked, spontaneous, and miniature synaptic activities, and use cultured hippocampal neurons as an example. This protocol also incorporates a means of assessing the rate of photobleaching of FM dyes, as this is a significant source of artifacts when imaging small changes in intensity.

Molecular mechanisms driving homeostatic plasticity of neurotransmitter release

Homeostatic plasticity is a process by which neurons adapt to the overall network activity to keep their firing rates in a reasonable range. At the cellular level this kind of plasticity comprises modulation of cellular excitability and tuning of synaptic strength. In this review we concentrate on presynaptic homeostatic plasticity controlling the efficacy of neurotransmitter release from presynaptic boutons. While morphological and electrophysiological approaches were successful to describe homeostatic plasticity-induced changes in the presynaptic architecture and function, cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying those modifications remained largely unknown for a long time. We summarize the latest progress made in the understanding of homeostasis-induced regulation of different steps of the synaptic vesicle cycle and the molecular machineries involved in this process. We particularly focus on the role of presynaptic scaffolding proteins, which functionally and spatially organize synaptic vesicle clusters, neurotransmitter release sites and the associated endocytic machinery. These proteins turned out to be major presynaptic substrates for remodeling during homeostatic plasticity. Finally, we discuss cellular processes and signaling pathways acting during homeostatic molecular remodeling and their potential involvement in the maladaptive plasticity occurring in multiple neuropathologic conditions such as neurodegeneration, epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders.