Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Vibrodissociation of Neurons from Rodent Brain Slices to Study Synaptic Transmission and Image Presynaptic Terminals
Published on: May 25, 2011
Synaptic vesicle endocytosis: calcium works overtime in the nerve terminal
1Division of Biomechanical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Edinburgh.
Abstract:
The functions of Ca2+ are many and varied within cells, but in the nerve terminals of neurons it has had a very defined role. That is, the influx of extracellular Ca2+ through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels stimulates neurotransmitter release by exocytosis. For years this was assumed to be the main role for Ca2+ in this specialized subcellular region. However recent studies have shown that Ca2+ also has multiple roles in synaptic-vesicle endocytosis. This review will present evidence for three Ca2+-dependent and -independent steps; a high-affinity Ca2+-dependent triggering step, a Ca2+-independent maintenance phase, and a low-affinity Ca2+-dependent inhibition step. How the control of endocytosis by Ca2+ might impact on different neuronal functions such as synaptic transmission, the nucleation of SV endocytosis, and the repair of damaged membrane is then discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Synaptic Signaling
The Synapse
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
Synaptic Signaling
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...

