Files
Document type
ArticleVersion
Published versionPublication date
Publication license
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/176042
Presynaptic clathrin levels are a limiting factor for synaptic transmission
Journal Title
Director/Tutor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Related resource
Abstract
To maintain communication, neurons must recycle their synaptic vesicles with high efficiency. This process places a huge burden on the clathrin-mediated endocytic machinery, but the consequences of this are poorly understood. We found that the amount of clathrin in a presynaptic terminal is not fixed. During stimulation, clathrin moves out of synapses as a function of stimulus strength and neurotransmitter release probability, which, together with membrane coat formation, transiently reduces the available pool of free clathrin triskelia. Correlative functional and morphological experiments in cholinergic autapses established by superior cervical ganglion neurons in culture show that presynaptic terminal function is compromised if clathrin levels fall by 20% after clathrin heavy chain knock down using RNAi. Synaptic transmission is depressed due to a reduction of cytoplasmic and readily releasable pools of vesicles. However, synaptic depression reverts after dialysis of exogenous clathrin, thus compensating RNAi-induced depletion. Lowering clathrin levels also reduces quantal size, which occurs concomitantly with a decrease in the size of synaptic vesicles. Large dense-core vesicles are unaffected by clathrin knock down. Together, our results show that clathrin levels are a dynamic property of presynaptic terminals that can influence short-term plasticity in a stimulus-dependent manner.
Subject
Subject (English)
Citation
Citation
LÓPEZ MURCIA, Francisco José, ROYLE, Stephen J. and LLOBET BERENGUER, Artur. Presynaptic clathrin levels are a limiting factor for synaptic transmission. Journal of Neuroscience. 2014. Vol. 34, num. 25, pags. 8618-8629. ISSN 0270-6474. [consulted: 13 of June of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/176042