The mechanisms underlying exo- and endocytosis of neurotransmitter vesicles at synaptic terminals are still not fully understood. Although many endocytic pathways have been documented, there is little direct evidence on the molecular dependence of endocytosis. Yamashita et al. used capacitance measurements in combination with intraterminal molecular loadings at the calyx of Held to show that endocytosis and recycling of synaptic vesicles predominantly depends upon guanosine triphosphate hydrolysis by dynamin-1. The study also suggests that the rapid capacitance change, which has been proposed to represent kiss-and-run exo-endocytosis, is unrelated to transmitter release.
T. Yamashita, T. Hige, T. Takahashi, Vesicle endocytosis requires dynamin-dependent GTP hydrolysis at a fast CNS synapse. Science 307, 124-127 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]
