How to Fill a Synapse

摘要

The basis of almost all communication between neurons relies on vesicles containing chemical neurotransmit-ters. At the junction, or synapse, between two neurons, synaptic vesicles laden with neuro-transmitter release their contents (exocytosis) from terminals of one neuron. The chemicals act on the opposing neuron, propagating a specific signal. Replenishing the presynaptic neuron with synaptic vesicles is critical to the signaling that underlies processes such as learning, and failure to control this cycle of vesicle formation and deployment can lead to conditions such as epilepsy. On page 570 of this issue, Ferguson and colleagues show that the mechanism producing new synaptic vesicles is not as simple as once envisioned, but involves a family of proteins that manages the supply of vesicles both during and after a neuron is stimulated. Their discoveries reveal how a synapse maintains its full complement of synaptic vesicles to support all functions of the nervous system.