Dynamin 1 controls vesicle size and endocytosis at hippocampal synapses

Abstract

Following calcium-triggered vesicle exocytosis, endocytosis regenerates vesicles to maintain exocytosis and thus synaptic transmission, which underlies neuronal circuit activities. Although most molecules involved in endocytosis have been identified, it remains rather poorly understood how endocytic machinery regulates vesicle size. Vesicle size, together with the transmitter concentration inside the vesicle, determines the amount of transmitter the vesicle can release, the quantal size, that may control the strength of synaptic transmission. Here, we report that, surprisingly, knockout of the GTPase dynamin 1, the most abundant brain dynamin isoform known to catalyze fission of the membrane pit's neck (the last step of endocytosis), not only significantly slowed endocytosis but also increased the synaptic vesicle diameter by as much as ∼40–64% at cultured hippocampal synapses. Furthermore, dynamin 1 knockout increased the size of membrane pits, the precursor for endocytic vesicle formation. These results suggest an important function of dynamin other than its well-known fission function – control of vesicle size at the pit formation stage.