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Related Experiment Videos

Are some minis multiquantal?

M Frerking1, S Borges, M Wilson

  • 1Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.

Journal of Neurophysiology
|October 6, 1997
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Miniature postsynaptic currents (minis) are likely uniquantal, not multiquantal. This study challenges the synchronized release model, suggesting individual release events shape mini amplitude distributions.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Miniature postsynaptic currents (minis) exhibit significant variance and positive skew in central neurons.
  • The underlying sources of this variance and skew remain largely unresolved.
  • A recent hypothesis proposed spontaneous calcium (Ca2+) influx synchronizes release at multiple sites, generating multiquantal minis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that spontaneous Ca2+ influx causes multiquantal minis.
  • To investigate the quantal nature of miniature postsynaptic currents.
  • To determine the sources of variance and skew in mini amplitude distributions.

Main Methods:

  • Evoked minis using internally perfused, buffered Ca2+ and alpha-latrotoxin.
  • Conducted experiments in the absence of external Ca2+.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analyzed mini amplitude distributions under manipulated conditions.

    • Main Results:

    • Mini amplitude distributions retained large variance and positive skew.
    • Distributions were indistinguishable from depolarization-evoked minis.
    • The synchronized release model's predictions were contradicted.

    Conclusions:

    • Miniature postsynaptic currents are likely uniquantal.
    • Spontaneous Ca2+ influx does not appear to synchronize release to create multiquantal events.
    • The findings challenge existing models of spontaneous neurotransmitter release.