Molecular Neurobiology Department seminar

Speaker: professor Kirill Volynski, Institute of Neurology, University College London (UK)

Presentation title: Regulation of synaptic vesicle exocytosis by Ca²⁺-sensitive Synaptotagmin 1 oligomers

Author's abstract:

Synaptic vesicular release of neurotransmitters forms the basis of information transfer in the brain. This process involves highly specialised machinery optimised for speed and coupled to the action potential-evoked presynaptic Ca²⁺ influx via the vesicular Ca²⁺ release sensor synaptotagmin (Syt1 and Syt2 in different types of synapses). Although the critical role of Syt1 was established more than 20 years ago, the precise sequence of molecular events that leads to fast synaptic vesicle exocytosis after Ca²⁺ binding by Syt1 remains unclear. Recently, James Rothman group in Yale has demonstrated that Syt1 molecules readily form Ca²⁺-sensitive ring-like oligomers on lipid surfaces (Wang et al. PNAS 2015, Zanetti et al. Elife 2016). This prompted a hypothesis that such Ca²⁺-dependent Syt1 oligomerization at the interface of the docked synaptic vesicle may play a critical role in regulation of neurotransmitter release. Here, I will present our new functional data arguing that Syt1 oligomerization is indeed essential for synchronisation of transmitter release in central synapses.

Chair: Alexey Semyanov; E-mail: semyanov@ibch.ru

january 15, 2018