Changes in the effectiveness of synapses underlie the ability of neuronal networks to store and retrieve information, the cellular level representation of learning and memory. One form of synaptic plasticity is facilitation, a phenomenon by which a synapse becomes transiently more effective following repeated use. The classical interpretation of facilitation has been that nerve repetitive stimulation increases Ca2+ concentration at presynaptic release sites, which in turn increases the probability of each site to release a vesicle. However, more recently it became clear that this explanation is incomplete. We have recently shown that changes in the number of synaptic vesicles properly activated to be released (the releasable pool of vesicles) also contribute to facilitation. We propose to investigate quantitatively how the regulation of the releasable pool of vesicles by presynaptic machinery affects facilitation. Synapsins, a family of neuron specific phosphoproteins, regulate binding of vesicles to actin filaments and thereby control availability of vesicles to become releasable. Consistently with the proposed role of the releasable vesicle pool in facilitation, we have recently demonstrated that transmitter release and facilitation are regulated by synapsin in a Ca2+-dependent manner. In the present application we propose to investigate quantitatively how synapsin regulates presynaptic vesicle cycling, recruitment of vesicles in the releasable pool, and thereby different forms of facilitation. Our proposal relies on the combination of experimentation and modeling, since presynaptic terminals are not easily accessible for experimental manipulations, and all the vesicle pools cannot be measured precisely. Our overall approach is to investigate regulation of vesicle pools by synapsin, to simulate quantitatively the dynamics of vesicle pools, and to verify modeling by its ability to account for different facilitation forms and their regulation by synapsin. All the developed computational algorithms will be available to other scholars. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH061059-07
Application #
7210763
Study Section
Neurotransporters, Receptors, and Calcium Signaling Study Section (NTRC)
Program Officer
Glanzman, Dennis L
Project Start
1999-10-01
Project End
2011-03-31
Budget Start
2007-04-01
Budget End
2008-03-31
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$233,719
Indirect Cost
Name
Lehigh University
Department
Biology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
808264444
City
Bethlehem
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
18015
Sabeva, Nadezhda S; Bykhovskaia, Maria (2017) FM1-43 Photoconversion and Electron Microscopy Analysis at the Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction. Bio Protoc 7:
Long, Rong; Hui, Chung-Yuen; Jagota, Anand et al. (2012) Adhesion energy can regulate vesicle fusion and stabilize partially fused states. J R Soc Interface 9:1555-67
Bykhovskaia, Maria (2011) Synapsin regulation of vesicle organization and functional pools. Semin Cell Dev Biol 22:387-92
Akbergenova, Y; Bykhovskaia, M (2010) Synapsin regulates vesicle organization and activity-dependent recycling at Drosophila motor boutons. Neuroscience 170:441-52
Coleman, William L; Bykhovskaia, Maria (2010) Cooperative regulation of neurotransmitter release by Rab3a and synapsin II. Mol Cell Neurosci 44:190-200
Akbergenova, Yulia; Bykhovskaia, Maria (2009) Enhancement of the endosomal endocytic pathway increases quantal size. Mol Cell Neurosci 40:199-206
Coleman, William L; Bykhovskaia, Maria (2009) Rab3a-mediated vesicle recruitment regulates short-term plasticity at the mouse diaphragm synapse. Mol Cell Neurosci 41:286-96
Akbergenova, Yulia; Bykhovskaia, Maria (2009) Stimulation-induced formation of the reserve pool of vesicles in Drosophila motor boutons. J Neurophysiol 101:2423-33
Coleman, William L; Bykhovskaia, Maria (2009) Synapsin I accelerates the kinetics of neurotransmitter release in mouse motor terminals. Synapse 63:531-3
Bykhovskaia, Maria (2008) Making quantal analysis more convenient, fast, and accurate: user-friendly software QUANTAN. J Neurosci Methods 168:500-13

Showing the most recent 10 out of 16 publications