Issue Archive

[Research progress of synaptic vesicle recycling.] [Article in Chinese]

LI Ye-Fei, ZHANG Xiao-Xing, DUAN Shu-Min

1Medical School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China； 2Editorial Office of Neuroscience Bulletin, Shanghai Information Center for Life Sciences； 3Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200031, China

Abstract

Neurotransmission begins with neurotransmitter being released from synaptic vesicles. To achieve this function, synaptic vesicles endure the dynamic “release-recycle” process to maintain the function and structure of presynaptic terminal. Synaptic transmission starts with a single action potential that depolarizes axonal bouton, followed by an increase in the cytosolic calcium concentration that triggers the synaptic vesicle membrane fusion with presynaptic membrane to release neurotransmitter; then the vesicle membrane can be endocytosed for reusing afterwards. This process requires delicate regulation, intermediate steps and dynamic
balances. Accumulating evidence showed that the release ability and mobility of synapses varies under different stimulations. Synaptic vesicle heterogeneity has been studied at molecular and cellular levels, hopefully leading to the identification of the relationships between structure and function and understanding how vesicle regulation affects synaptic transmission and plasticity. People are beginning to realize that different types of synapses show diverse presynaptic activities. The steady advances of technology studying synaptic vesicle recycling promote people’s understanding of this field. In this review, we discuss the following three aspects of the research progresses on synaptic vesicle recycling: 1) presynaptic vesicle pools and recycling; 2) research progresses on the differences of glutamatergic and GABAergic presynaptic vesicle recycling mechanism and 3) comparison of the technologies used in studying presyanptic vesicle recycling and the latest progress in the technology development in this field.

Key words: Synapse; synaptic vesicle recycling; glutamatergic synapse; GABAergic synapse

Received: 2015-09-29　　Accepted: 2015-11-06

Corresponding author: 段树民　　E-mail: duanshumin@zjuem.zju.edu.cn

Citing This Article：

LI Ye-Fei, ZHANG Xiao-Xing, DUAN Shu-Min. [Research progress of synaptic vesicle recycling.] [Article in Chinese]. Acta Physiol Sin 2015; 67 (6): 545-560 (in Chinese with English abstract).