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Science 338 (6106): 482-483

Copyright © 2012 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Decoding the Neuronal Tower of Babel

Chris J. McBain

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Porter Neuroscience Center, Room 3C903, Lincoln Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.


Figure 1
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  		Tailoring one neuron to two synapses. In the hippocampus, somatostatin-containing O-LM and parvalbumin-containing basket cells receive common afferent input from CA1 pyramidal neurons. The postsynaptic expression of the leucine-rich repeat protein Elfn1 in O-LM cells acts to set the presynaptic initial transmitter release probability (Pr) low, ensuring short-term facilitation of synaptic transmission. In contrast, the absence of Elfn1, of the presence of an as yet undiscovered trans-synaptic protein, endows CA1 pyramidal neuron synapses onto basket cells with a high initial release probability, depressing synaptic transmission.

 

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