Discharge of the readily releasable pool with action potentials at hippocampal synapses

A readily releasable pool (RRP) of synaptic vesicles has been identified at hippocampal synapses with application of hypertonic solution. RRP size correlates with important properties of synaptic function such as release probability. However, a discrepancy in RRP size has been reported depending on the method used to evoke synaptic release. This study was undertaken to determine quantitative relationships between the RRP defined with hypertonic solution and that released with trains of action potentials. We find that asynchronous release at cell culture synapses contributes significantly to the discharge of the RRP with trains of action potentials and that RRP size is the same when elicited by either nerve stimuli or hypertonic challenge.