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Antidromic-rectifying gap junctions amplify chemical transmission at functionally mixed electrical-chemical synapses
Ping Liu1, Bojun Chen1, Roger Mailler2
1Department of Neuroscience, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030, USA.
Nature Communications
|March 21, 2017
Summary
Electrical and chemical synapses interact to control neural circuit function. Gap junctions amplify chemical transmission, a potentially conserved mechanism in the nervous system.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Synaptic Plasticity
- Circuit Function
Background:
- Neurons utilize both chemical and electrical synapses for communication.
- The interaction between these synapse types and their role in synaptic strength and circuit function remain largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between chemical and electrical synapses.
- To determine the importance of these interactions in controlling synaptic strength and circuit functions.
Main Methods:
- Studied chemical and electrical synapses between premotor interneurons (AVA) and motor neurons (A-MNs) in the Caenorhabditis elegans escape circuit.
- Disrupted chemical and electrical synapses to observe effects on the escape response.
Main Results:
- Disrupting either chemical or electrical synapses led to a defective escape response.
- Gap junctions between AVA and A-MNs, which normally allow only antidromic current, were found to inhibit chemical transmission when disrupted.
- Disrupting chemical synapses did not affect electrical coupling.
Conclusions:
- Gap junctions can amplify chemical transmission between neurons possessing both synapse types.
- The use of antidromic-rectifying gap junctions to amplify chemical transmission may be a conserved mechanism in neural circuits.
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