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Related Concept Videos

Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane01:26

Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane

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Proteins and neurotransmitters in secretory vesicles can be released from a cell upon vesicle docking, priming, and fusion with the plasma membrane. Vesicles are docked and primed in preparation for the quick exocytosis of their contents in response to a stimulus. The fusion process is mainly carried out by a SNAP Receptor or SNARE complex, consisting of synaptobrevin, syntaxin-1, and SNAP-25.
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Vesicular Tubular Clusters01:45

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After budding out from the ER membrane, some COPII vesicles lose their coat and fuse with one another to form larger vesicles and interconnected tubules called vesicular tubular clusters or VTCs. These clusters constitute a compartment at the ER-Golgi interface known as ERGIC (Endoplasmic Reticulum Golgi Intermediate Compartment). The ERGIC is a mobile membrane-bound cargo transport system that sorts proteins secreted from ER and delivers them to the Golgi.
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Chemical Synapses01:26

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Chemical synapses are specialized sites between two neurons or between a neuron and a non-neuronal cell like a muscle, glandular or sensory cell.
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...
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Chemical Synapses01:26

Chemical Synapses

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Chemical synapses are specialized sites between two neurons or between a neuron and a non-neuronal cell like a muscle, glandular or sensory cell.
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...
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Overview of Secretory Vesicles01:33

Overview of Secretory Vesicles

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Secretory vesicles, also known as dense core vesicles (DCVs), are membrane-bound vesicles that transport secretory proteins, such as hormones or neurotransmitters. Regulated secretory vesicles transport proteins from the trans-Golgi network to the exterior of the cell. Proteins present in regulated secretory vesicles are required to be rapidly exocytosed in large amounts upon a specific stimulus.
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Pinching-off of Coated Vesicles01:32

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Vesicle budding is orchestrated by distinct cytosolic proteins such as adaptor proteins, coat proteins, and GTPases. To initiate vesicle budding, membrane-bending proteins containing crescent-shaped BAR domains bind to the lipid heads in the bilayer and distort the membrane to form a protein-coated vesicle bud. Adaptors proteins such as AP2 for clathrin-coated vesicles can nucleate on the deformed membrane. Finally, coat proteins such as clathrin or COPI and COPII assemble into a coat forming...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 7, 2025

An Optical Assay for Synaptic Vesicle Recycling in Cultured Neurons Overexpressing Presynaptic Proteins
09:33

An Optical Assay for Synaptic Vesicle Recycling in Cultured Neurons Overexpressing Presynaptic Proteins

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Synaptic vesicles transiently dock to refill release sites.

Grant F Kusick1,2, Morven Chin1,3, Sumana Raychaudhuri1

  • 1Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Nature Neuroscience
|September 29, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

New synaptic vesicles rapidly and reversibly dock at release sites after neurotransmitter release. This dynamic process ensures efficient refilling of the docked vesicle pool at active zones in hippocampal synapses.

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Measuring Synaptic Vesicle Endocytosis in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons
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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology
  • Synaptic Transmission

Background:

  • Synaptic vesicles are crucial for neurotransmitter release.
  • Efficient refilling of docked vesicles is essential for sustained synaptic function.
  • Understanding vesicle dynamics at active zones is key to synaptic plasticity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To visualize and quantify synaptic vesicle docking and exocytosis dynamics.
  • To investigate the temporal and spatial characteristics of vesicle recruitment after stimulation.
  • To elucidate the reversibility of vesicle docking at hippocampal synapses.

Main Methods:

  • Cultured mouse hippocampal neurons were stimulated with single action potentials.
  • High-pressure freezing was used to rapidly preserve synaptic structures.
  • Electron microscopy enabled detailed morphological analysis of synaptic vesicles and active zones.

Main Results:

  • Synaptic vesicle fusion sites differ between synchronous (throughout active zone) and asynchronous (center-biased) release.
  • Stimulation caused a ~40% decrease in docked vesicles.
  • The docked vesicle pool was replenished within 14 ms but remained transient, with vesicles either undocking or fusing within 100 ms.

Conclusions:

  • Synaptic vesicle recruitment to release sites is a rapid and reversible process.
  • The dynamic nature of vesicle docking ensures rapid replenishment of the readily releasable pool.
  • These findings provide insights into the mechanisms governing synaptic vesicle cycling and neurotransmission.