Munc13-1 is essential for fusion competence of glutamatergic synaptic vesicles

Iris Augustin, Christian Rosenmund, Thomas C. Südhof and Nils Brose ()
Additional contact information
Iris Augustin: Max-Planck-Institut für Experimentelle Medizin, AG Molekulare Neurobiologie
Christian Rosenmund: Max-Planck-Institut fr Biophysikalische Chemie
Thomas C. Südhof: Center for Basic Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Nils Brose: Max-Planck-Institut für Experimentelle Medizin, AG Molekulare Neurobiologie

Nature, 1999, vol. 400, issue 6743, 457-461

Abstract: Abstract Neurotransmitter release at synapses between nerve cells is mediated by calcium-triggered exocytotic fusion of synaptic vesicles1. Before fusion, vesicles dock at the presynaptic release site where they mature to a fusion-competent state1,2. Here we identify Munc13-1, a brain-specific presynaptic phorbol ester receptor3,4, as an essential protein for synaptic vesicle maturation. We show that glutamatergic hippocampal neurons from mice lacking Munc13-1 form ultrastructurally normal synapses whose synaptic-vesicle cycle is arrested at the maturation step. Transmitter release from mutant synapses cannot be triggered by action potentials, calcium-ionophores or hypertonic sucrose solution. In contrast, release evoked by α-latrotoxin is indistinguishable from wild-type controls, indicating that the toxin can bypass Munc13-1-mediated vesicle maturation. A small subpopulation of synapses of any given glutamatergic neuron as well as all synapses of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid)-containing neurons are unaffected by Munc13-1 loss, demonstrating the existence of multiple and transmitter-specific synaptic vesicle maturation processes in synapses.

Date: 1999
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/22768 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:nature:v:400:y:1999:i:6743:d:10.1038_22768

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

DOI: 10.1038/22768

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

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