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Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Fast Micro-iontophoresis of Glutamate and GABA: A Useful Tool to Investigate Synaptic Integration
Published on: July 31, 2013
Temperature regulates synaptic subcellular specificity mediated by inhibitory glutamate signaling
Mengqing Wang1, Daniel Witvliet2,3, Mengting Wu1
1Department of Neurosurgery, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Environmental factors such as temperature affect neuronal activity and development. However, it remains unknown whether and how they affect synaptic subcellular specificity. Here, using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans AIY interneurons as a model, we found that high cultivation temperature robustly induces defects in synaptic subcellular specificity through glutamatergic neurotransmission. Furthermore, we determined that the functional glutamate is mainly released by the ASH sensory neurons and sensed by two conserved inhibitory glutamate-gated chloride channels GLC-3 and GLC-4 in AIY. Our work not only presents a novel neurotransmission-dependent mechanism underlying the synaptic subcellular specificity, but also provides a potential mechanistic insight into high-temperature-induced neurological defects.
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