Neurotransmitter segregation: Functional and plastic implications

详细信息	查看全文 | 推荐本文 |

• 作者：Cynthia Sá ; mano¹ ; Fredy Cifuentes ; Miguel Angel Morales ; ^{mamm@biomedicas.unam.mx}
• 关键词：NA ; noradrenaline ; ACh ; acetylcholine ; GABA ; 纬-aminobutyric acid ; SCV ; small clear vesicles ; LDCV ; large dense core vesicles ; TH ; tyrosine hydroxylase ; VGLUTs ; vesicular glutamate transporters ; SPN ; sympathetic preganglionic neurons ; VAChT ; vesicular ace
• 刊名：Progress in Neurobiology
• 出版年：2012
• 期刊代码：62_03010082
• 类别：neu
• 出版时间：June, 2012
• 卷：97
• 期：3
• 页码：277-287
• 文件大小：1553 K

摘要

Synaptic cotransmission is the ability of neurons to use more than one transmitter to convey synaptic signals. Cotransmission was originally described as the presence of a classic transmitter, which conveys main signal, along one or more cotransmitters that modulate transmission, later on, it was found cotransmission of classic transmitters. It has been generally accepted that neurons store and release the same set of transmitters in all their synaptic processes. However, some findings that show axon endings of individual neurons storing and releasing different sets of transmitters, are not in accordance with this assumption, and give support to the hypothesis that neurons can segregate transmitters to different synapses. Here, we review the studies showing segregation of transmitters in invertebrate and mammalian central nervous system neurons, and correlate them with our results obtained in sympathetic neurons. Our data show that these neurons segregate even classic transmitters to separated axons. Based on our data we suggest that segregation is a plastic phenomenon and responds to functional synaptic requirements, and to 鈥榚nvironmental鈥?cues such as neurotrophins. We propose that neurons have the machinery to guide the different molecules required in synaptic transmission through axons and sort them to different axon endings. We believe that transmitter segregation improves neuron interactions during cotransmission and gives them selective and better control of synaptic plasticity.