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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Measuring Synaptic Vesicle Endocytosis in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons
Published on: September 4, 2017
The calcineurin-dynamin 1 complex as a calcium sensor for synaptic vesicle endocytosis
M M Lai1, J J Hong, A M Ruggiero
1Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Abstract:
Exocytosis of synaptic vesicles is calcium-dependent, with synaptotagmin serving as the calcium sensor. Endocytosis of synaptic vesicles has also been postulated as a calcium-dependent process; however, an endocytic calcium sensor has not been found. We now report a physical association between the calcium-dependent phosphatase calcineurin and dynamin 1, a component of the synaptic endocytic machinery. The calcineurin-dynamin 1 interaction is calcium-dependent, with an EC(50) for calcium in the range of 0.1-0. 4 microM. Disruption of the calcineurin-dynamin 1 interaction inhibits clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Thus, the calcium-dependent formation of the calcineurin-dynamin 1 complex, delivered to the other endocytic coat proteins, provides a calcium-sensing mechanism that facilitates endocytosis.
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