VGLUT1 functions as a glutamate/proton exchanger with chloride channel activity in hippocampal glutamatergic synapses

Magalie Martineau (), Raul E. Guzman, Christoph Fahlke and Jürgen Klingauf ()
Additional contact information
Magalie Martineau: University of Muenster
Raul E. Guzman: Forschungszentrum Jülich
Christoph Fahlke: Forschungszentrum Jülich
Jürgen Klingauf: University of Muenster

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Glutamate is the major excitatory transmitter in the vertebrate nervous system. To maintain synaptic efficacy, recycling synaptic vesicles (SV) are refilled with glutamate by vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs). The dynamics and mechanism of glutamate uptake in intact neurons are still largely unknown. Here, we show by live-cell imaging with pH- and chloride-sensitive fluorescent probes in cultured hippocampal neurons of wild-type and VGLUT1-deficient mice that in SVs VGLUT functions as a glutamate/proton exchanger associated with a channel-like chloride conductance. After endocytosis most internalized Cl− is substituted by glutamate in an electrically, and presumably osmotically, neutral manner, and this process is driven by both the Cl− gradient itself and the proton motive force provided by the vacuolar H+-ATPase. Our results shed light on the transport mechanism of VGLUT under physiological conditions and provide a framework for how modulation of glutamate transport via Cl− and pH can change synaptic strength.

Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02367-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-017-02367-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02367-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().