Christian Rosenmund | “The roles of synaptotagmins in neurotransmitter release”
Cellular and molecular neuroscience \ Manfred Eigen lecture theatre
Neurotransmitter release requires a release apparatus at the presynaptic active zone, which regulates several steps in the process of preparing synaptic vesicles for fusion and utilising the action potential induced Ca2+ signal to rapidly trigger vesicle exocytosis. I will provide experimental data that describe and compare the role of synaptotagmin 1 and -7 in mediating and modulating the release process itself. We use primary murine neurons and apply both electrophysiology as well as electron microscopy. We find that Synaptotagmin 7 shares redundant functions to Synaptotagmin 1 in preparing synaptic vesicles for release. Following Ca2+ triggering, the two synaptotagmins diverge in their function and provide opposing roles in affecting the efficacy of Ca2+ triggered release.