scholarly journals Adenosine decreases both presynaptic calcium currents and neurotransmitter release at the mouse neuromuscular junction

2004 ◽  
Vol 558 (2) ◽  
pp. 389-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene M. Silinsky
eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A Gaviño ◽  
Kevin J Ford ◽  
Santiago Archila ◽  
Graeme W Davis

Homeostatic signaling stabilizes synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) of Drosophila, mice, and human. It is believed that homeostatic signaling at the NMJ is bi-directional and considerable progress has been made identifying mechanisms underlying the homeostatic potentiation of neurotransmitter release. However, very little is understood mechanistically about the opposing process, homeostatic depression, and how bi-directional plasticity is achieved. Here, we show that homeostatic potentiation and depression can be simultaneously induced, demonstrating true bi-directional plasticity. Next, we show that mutations that block homeostatic potentiation do not alter homeostatic depression, demonstrating that these are genetically separable processes. Finally, we show that homeostatic depression is achieved by decreased presynaptic calcium channel abundance and calcium influx, changes that are independent of the presynaptic action potential waveform. Thus, we identify a novel mechanism of homeostatic synaptic plasticity and propose a model that can account for the observed bi-directional, homeostatic control of presynaptic neurotransmitter release.


1992 ◽  
Vol 86 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 129-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Augustine ◽  
EM Adler ◽  
MP Charlton ◽  
M Hans ◽  
D Swandulla ◽  
...  

1990 ◽  
Vol 153 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. FENG ◽  
ZHENG-SHAN DAI

Although the entry of calcium ions into the presynaptic nerve terminals through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels is now universally recognized as playing an essential role in evoked transmitter release at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), and indeed in chemical synapses generally, we have as yet very little direct knowledge of the Ca2+ channels of the presynaptic terminals. In this work, making use of cocultured nerve and muscle cells from Xenopus embryos, we studied the NMJ formed between the soma of identified cholinergic neurones and myoball, which allowed the use of patch-clamps on both the pre- and postsynaptic components. Both whole-cell and single-channel recordings of Ca2+ channels in the presynaptic cell were made. We found only one type of voltage-gated Ca2+ channel with highvoltage activation and slow inactivation characteristics, allowing its classification either as the L or the N type. The channels were susceptible to block by metenkephalin but not to block by nifedipine or to enhancement by Bay K 8644. This combination of pharmacological properties favours their classification as the N type. Preliminary observations on the correlation between calcium currents and transmitter release disclosed a strikingly rapid run-down of the evoked release with unchanged calcium currents and spontaneous release during whole-cell recording, indicating a specific wash-out effect on some link between calcium entry and evoked transmitter release.


1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 2070-2081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Hurley ◽  
Katherine Graubard

Hurley, Laura M. and Katherine Graubard. Pharmacologically and functionally distinct calcium currents of stomatogastric neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 2070–2081, 1998. Previous studies have suggested the presence of different types of calcium channels in different regions of stomatogastric neurons. We sought to pharmacologically separate these calcium channel types. We used two different preparations from different regions of stomatogastric neurons to screen a range of selective calcium channel blockers. The two preparations were isolated cell bodies in culture, in which calcium current was measured directly, and isolated neuromuscular junction, in which synaptic transmission was the indirect assay for presynaptic calcium influx. The selective blockers were two different dihydropyridines, ω-Agatoxin IVA, and ω-Conotoxin GVIA. Cultured cell bodies possessed both high-threshold calcium current and calcium-activated outward current, similar to intact neurons. The calcium current had transient and maintained components, but both components had the same voltage dependence of activation and inactivation. Dihydropyridines at ≥10 μM blocked both high-threshold calcium current and calcium-activated outward current. Nanomolar doses of ω-Agatoxin IVA did not block calcium current, but micromolar doses did. ω-Conotoxin GVIA did not block either current. In contrast, at the neuromuscular junction, dihydropyridines reduced the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials by only a modest amount, whereas ω-Agatoxin IVA at doses as low as 64 nM reduced the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials almost entirely. These effects were presynaptic. ω-Conotoxin GVIA did not change the amplitude of postsynaptic potentials. The different pharmacological profiles of the two isolated preparations suggest that there are at least two different types of calcium channel in stomatogastric neurons and that ω-Agatoxin IVA and dihydropridines can be used to pharmacologically distinguish them.


PLoS Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. e1002516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seok-Kyu Kwon ◽  
Richard Sando ◽  
Tommy L. Lewis ◽  
Yusuke Hirabayashi ◽  
Anton Maximov ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Doris G. Leung

Myasthenia gravis is in most cases an autoimmune disorder of the neuromuscular junction in which antibodies are directed at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors or other synaptic proteins, such as the MusK protein that is involved in the formation of the formation and maturation of the motor endplate. Less commonly, myasthenia gravis can result from antibodies directed to presynaptic calcium channels as a side effect of paraneoplastic antibodies (Lambert-Eaton syndrome) or from a developmental paucity of acetylcholine receptors in the neonatal form of the disease. Treatment is usually a combination of aceetylcoholinesterase inhibitors such as pyridostigmine to prolong the life of acetylcholine released at the neuromuscular junction and/or drugs such as corticosteroids aimed at reducing inflammation.


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