Multivesicular release

Multivesicular release (MVR) is the phenomenon by which individual chemical synapses, forming the junction between neurons, is mediated by multiple releasable vesicles of neurotransmitter.^[1] In neuroscience, it is a subject of debate whether one or many vesicles are released per action potential.^[2]

Examples

In the mammalian brain, MVR has been shown to be common in CA1 pyramidal cells and Schaffer collateral cells.^[2] It has also been reported in the ribbon synapses formed by inner hair cells,^[3] as with spiral ganglion neurons.^[4] Recent evidence points to a possibility of MVR at neocortical connections of the somatosensory cortex.^[5]

References

1. Tong, G; Jahr, CE (January 1994). "Multivesicular release from excitatory synapses of cultured hippocampal neurons.". Neuron 12 (1): 51–9. doi:10.1016/0896-6273(94)90151-1. PMID 7507341.
2. Christie, JM; Jahr, CE (4 January 2006). "Multivesicular release at Schaffer collateral-CA1 hippocampal synapses.". The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 26 (1): 210–6. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4307-05.2006. PMID 16399689.
3. Glowatzki, E; Fuchs, PA (February 2002). "Transmitter release at the hair cell ribbon synapse.". Nature Neuroscience 5 (2): 147–54. doi:10.1038/nn796. PMID 11802170.
4. Fuchs, PA (1 July 2005). "Time and intensity coding at the hair cell's ribbon synapse.". The Journal of Physiology 566 (Pt 1): 7–12. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2004.082214. PMID 15845587.
5. Huang, CH; Bao, J; Sakaba, T (8 September 2010). "Multivesicular release differentiates the reliability of synaptic transmission between the visual cortex and the somatosensory cortex.". The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 30 (36): 11994–2004. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2381-10.2010. PMID 20826663.