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Synaptic Multivesicular Release in the Cerebellar Cortex: Its Mechanism and Role in Neural Encoding and Processing

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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 Ca2+ 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.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Physiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki, 444-8787, Japan

    Shin’Ichiro Satake & Keiji Imoto

  2. School of Life Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki, 444-8787, Japan

    Shin’Ichiro Satake & Keiji Imoto

  3. Department of Biophysical Chemistry, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, 1-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan

    Tsuyoshi Inoue

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  1. Shin’Ichiro Satake
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Correspondence to Shin’Ichiro Satake.

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Satake, S., Inoue, T. & Imoto, K. Synaptic Multivesicular Release in the Cerebellar Cortex: Its Mechanism and Role in Neural Encoding and Processing. Cerebellum 15, 201–207 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-015-0677-5

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