TY - JOUR
T1 - Activity-dependent acceleration of endocytosis at a central synapse
AU - Wu, Wei
AU - Xu, Jianhua
AU - Wu, Xin Sheng
AU - Wu, Ling Gang
PY - 2005/12/14
Y1 - 2005/12/14
N2 - Accumulated evidence indicates the existence of rapid and slow endocytosis at many synapses. It has been proposed that rapid endocytosis is activated by intense stimulation when vesicle recycling needs to be speeded up to supply vesicles at hippocampal synapses. However, the evidence, as obtained with imaging techniques, which are somewhat indirect in indicating rapid endocytosis, is controversial. Furthermore, a slower time course of endocytosis is often found after more intense nerve activity, casting doubt on the role of rapid endocytosis at synapses. Here, we addressed this issue at a mammalian central synapse, the calyx of Held, using a capacitance measurement technique that provides a higher time resolution than imaging techniques. We found that rapid endocytosis with a time constant of ∼1-2 s was activated during intense nerve activity. Reducing the presynaptic calcium current or buffering the intracellular calcium with EGTA significantly inhibited rapid endocytosis, suggesting that calcium triggers rapid endocytosis. During intense stimulation, rapid endocytosis retrieved up to approximately eight vesicles per second per active zone, approximately eightfold larger than reported in the hippocampus, and thus played a dominant role during and within 3 s after intense stimulation. Slow endocytosis became dominant 3 s after intense stimulation likely because of the fall of the intracellular calcium level that deactivated rapid endocytosis. These results underscore the importance of calcium-triggered rapid endocytosis, which offers the nerve terminal the plasticity to speed up vesicle cycling during intense nerve activity.
AB - Accumulated evidence indicates the existence of rapid and slow endocytosis at many synapses. It has been proposed that rapid endocytosis is activated by intense stimulation when vesicle recycling needs to be speeded up to supply vesicles at hippocampal synapses. However, the evidence, as obtained with imaging techniques, which are somewhat indirect in indicating rapid endocytosis, is controversial. Furthermore, a slower time course of endocytosis is often found after more intense nerve activity, casting doubt on the role of rapid endocytosis at synapses. Here, we addressed this issue at a mammalian central synapse, the calyx of Held, using a capacitance measurement technique that provides a higher time resolution than imaging techniques. We found that rapid endocytosis with a time constant of ∼1-2 s was activated during intense nerve activity. Reducing the presynaptic calcium current or buffering the intracellular calcium with EGTA significantly inhibited rapid endocytosis, suggesting that calcium triggers rapid endocytosis. During intense stimulation, rapid endocytosis retrieved up to approximately eight vesicles per second per active zone, approximately eightfold larger than reported in the hippocampus, and thus played a dominant role during and within 3 s after intense stimulation. Slow endocytosis became dominant 3 s after intense stimulation likely because of the fall of the intracellular calcium level that deactivated rapid endocytosis. These results underscore the importance of calcium-triggered rapid endocytosis, which offers the nerve terminal the plasticity to speed up vesicle cycling during intense nerve activity.
KW - Calcium
KW - Endocytosis
KW - Exocytosis
KW - Plasticity
KW - Short-term facilitation
KW - Synapse
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U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2972-05.2005
DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2972-05.2005
M3 - Article
C2 - 16354926
AN - SCOPUS:30744446224
SN - 0270-6474
VL - 25
SP - 11676
EP - 11683
JO - Journal of Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Neuroscience
IS - 50
ER -