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Activation of voltage-gated calcium channels at presynaptic terminals leads to local increases in calcium and the fusion of synaptic vesicles containing neurotransmitter. Presynaptic output is a function of the density of calcium channels, the dynamic properties of the channel, the distance to docked vesicles, and the release probability at the docking site. We demonstrate that at Caenorhabditis elegans neuromuscular junctions two different classes of voltage-gated calcium channels, CaV2 and CaV1, mediate the release of distinct pools of synaptic vesicles. CaV2 channels are concentrated in densely packed clusters ~250 nm in diameter with the active zone proteins Neurexin, α-Liprin, SYDE, ELKS/CAST, RIM-BP, α-Catulin, and MAGI1. CaV2 channels are colocalized with the priming protein UNC-13L and mediate the fusion of vesicles docked within 33 nm of the dense projection. CaV2 activity is amplified by ryanodine receptor release of calcium from internal stores, triggering fusion up to 165 nm from the dense projection. By contrast, CaV1 channels are dispersed in the synaptic varicosity, and are colocalized with UNC-13S. CaV1 and ryanodine receptors are separated by just 40 nm, and vesicle fusion mediated by CaV1 is completely dependent on the ryanodine receptor. Distinct synaptic vesicle pools, released by different calcium channels, could be used to tune the speed, voltage-dependence, and quantal content of neurotransmitter release.

Synaptotagmin 7 (SYT7) has emerged as a key regulator of presynaptic function, but its localization and precise role in the synaptic vesicle cycle remain the subject of debate. Here, we used iGluSnFR to optically interrogate glutamate release, at the single-bouton level, in SYT7KO-dissociated mouse hippocampal neurons. We analyzed asynchronous release, paired-pulse facilitation, and synaptic vesicle replenishment and found that SYT7 contributes to each of these processes to different degrees. ‘Zap-and-freeze’ electron microscopy revealed that a loss of SYT7 diminishes docking of synaptic vesicles after a stimulus and inhibits the recovery of depleted synaptic vesicles after a stimulus train. SYT7 supports these functions from the axonal plasma membrane, where its localization and stability require both γ-secretase-mediated cleavage and palmitoylation. In summary, SYT7 is a peripheral membrane protein that controls multiple modes of synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis and plasticity, in part, through enhancing activity-dependent docking of SVs.

Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) divides mitochondria as a mechano-chemical GTPase. However, the function of Drp1 beyond mitochondrial division is largely unknown. Multiple Drp1 isoforms are produced through mRNA splicing. One such isoform, Drp1ABCD, contains all four alternative exons and is specifically expressed in the brain. Here, we studied the function of Drp1ABCD in mouse neurons in both culture and animal systems using isoform-specific knockdown by shRNA and isoform-specific knockout by CRISPR/Cas9. We found that the expression of Drp1ABCD is induced during postnatal brain development. Drp1ABCD is enriched in dendritic spines and regulates postsynaptic clathrin-mediated endocytosis by positioning the endocytic zone at the postsynaptic density, independently of mitochondrial division. Drp1ABCD loss promotes the formation of ectopic dendrites in neurons and enhanced sensorimotor gating behavior in mice. These data reveal that Drp1ABCD controls postsynaptic endocytosis, neuronal morphology and brain function.

Synaptic vesicles can be released at extremely high rates, which places an extraordinary demand on the recycling machinery. Previous ultrastructural studies of vesicle recycling were conducted in dissected preparations using an intense stimulation to maximize the probability of release. Here, a single light stimulus was applied to motor neurons in intact Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes expressing channelrhodopsin, and the animals rapidly frozen. We found that docked vesicles fuse along a broad active zone in response to a single stimulus, and are replenished with a time constant of about 2 s. Endocytosis occurs within 50 ms adjacent to the dense projection and after 1 s adjacent to adherens junctions. These studies suggest that synaptic vesicle endocytosis may occur on a millisecond time scale following a single physiological stimulus in the intact nervous system and is unlikely to conform to current models of endocytosis. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00723.001, eLife digest Neurons communicate with one another at junctions called synapses. When an electrical signal travels along a neuron and arrives at a synapse, vesicles filled with small neurotransmitter molecules fuse with the cell membrane and release the neurotransmitter. These chemicals rapidly bind to receptors on the downstream neuron that induce an electrical response in that cell. Vesicles can be consumed at prodigious rates, up to 500 a second, so the cell must recover the membrane rapidly and regenerate more vesicles filled with neurotransmitter. Experiments in the 1970s and 1980s suggested that when vesicles empty their contents into the synapse, they fuse completely with the membrane and are lost. To recover the membrane, the cell forms ‘pits’, by means of a coat protein called clathrin, which then bud off into the cell as new vesicles. It takes roughly 15–20 s for vesicles to be recycled in this way. By contrast, synapses with very high firing rates are thought to recycle vesicles through a faster process known as ‘kiss and run’, in which vesicles are not fully integrated into the membrane, but instead fuse transiently with it to form a reversible pore within about a second. However, these studies triggered vesicle release using conditions that are unlikely to occur naturally inside cells. Now, Watanabe et al. have used optogenetics to study vesicle recycling in response to single stimuli at the synapse between neurons and muscles in an intact living animal, the nematode C. elegans. The worms had been genetically modified to express a light-sensitive ion channel called channelrhodopsin in their motor neurons. Watanabe et al. used a single pulse of light to stimulate vesicle release, and then rapidly froze the worms before studying their synapses with electron microscopy. They found that vesicle recycling occurred at the edges of the synapse or at a specialized structure in the middle of the synapse. Vesicle recycling took less than 50 ms—much faster than anything previously observed. This ultrafast recycling is unlikely to occur via ‘kiss and run’ since recycling occurred at sites lateral to the sites of fusion and because the recycled vesicles were larger than the originals, implying that they had not simply re-formed after a brief fusion event. By using physiologically relevant stimuli in an intact animal, Watanabe et al. reveal that vesicles can be recycled at synapses much more rapidly than previously thought, suggesting that our current models of this process may need to be reassessed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00723.002

The clathrin adaptor complex AP2 is thought to be an obligate heterotetramer. We identify null mutations in the α subunit of AP2 in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. α-adaptin mutants are viable and the remaining μ2/β hemicomplex retains some function. Conversely, in μ2 mutants, the alpha/sigma2 hemicomplex is localized and is partially functional. α-μ2 double mutants disrupt both halves of the complex and are lethal. The lethality can be rescued by expression of AP2 components in the skin, which allowed us to evaluate the requirement for AP2 subunits at synapses. Mutations in either α or μ2 subunits alone reduce the number of synaptic vesicles by about 30%; however, simultaneous loss of both α and μ2 subunits leads to a 70% reduction in synaptic vesicles and the presence of large vacuoles. These data suggest that AP2 may function as two partially independent hemicomplexes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00190.001, eLife digest The cell membrane is a busy place, with cell-surface proteins continually added and removed according to the needs of the cell. Each protein extends a polypeptide tail into the cell cytoplasm. When a protein is to be removed from the cell surface, its tail recruits a protein complex known as the AP2 adaptor to the membrane. AP2 then recruits a coat protein called clathrin, which forms a spherical scaffold around the adaptor, the target protein and the surrounding membrane, enclosing them inside a vesicle that breaks off from the membrane and enters the cell. Endocytosis is particularly common in neurons, which use it as a means of recycling proteins at synapses—the contact points between nerve cells. However, it is unclear whether synaptic-vesicle recycling also involves clathrin and AP2. To address this question, Gu et al. examined mutant nematode worms (C. elegans) in which the composition of AP2 had been altered. AP2 has four subunits, called α, β2, μ2 and σ2, and Gu et al. produced worms that lack either the α- or μ2-subunit, or both. Few worms that lacked both subunits survived. Surprisingly, however, worms that lacked just one subunit were viable, despite previous evidence that AP2 requires all four subunits to be functional. Nevertheless, these single mutants produced 30% fewer synaptic vesicles compared to wild-type worms. To examine the consequences of both subunits being absent, Gu et al. rescued the double mutants by selectively expressing AP2 in their skin. These animals—which still lack AP2 in their nervous systems—produced 70% fewer synaptic vesicles than their wild-type counterparts. The results show that AP2 does not need all four of its subunits and that it can exist as two semi-independent hemicomplexes. Moreover, Gu et al. show that C. elegans uses at least two endocytotic mechanisms (AP2-dependent and independent) to recycle vesicles and so maintain synaptic function. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00190.002