Abstract
Introduction Spontaneous synaptic fusion is a feature in all synapses. These random release events have been extremely instrumental in the analysis of unitary properties of neurotransmission. Here, we detail some modeling studies for the kinetic scheme of NMDA receptors in a synapse that was published in [1]. In a synapse, spontaneous and actionpotential-driven neurotransmitter release is assumed to activate the same set of postsynaptic receptors. However, new experiments using MK-801, a well characterized usedependent blocker of NMDA receptors shows NMDAreceptor-mediated spontaneous miniature EPSCs (NMDA-mEPSCs) and NMDA-receptor-mediated evoked EPSCs (NMDA-eEPSCs) responded with very different characters [1]. Modeling glutamate diffusion and NMDA receptor activation revealed that postsynaptic densities larger than ≈0.2 μm2 can accommodate two populations of NMDA receptors with primarily nonoverlapping responsiveness. Collectively, these results support the premise that spontaneous and evoked neurotransmissions activate distinct sets of NMDA receptors and signal independently to the postsynaptic side.
Highlights
Spontaneous synaptic fusion is a feature in all synapses
Eighteenth Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS*2009 Don H Johnson Meeting abstracts – A single PDF containing all abstracts in this Supplement is available here. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2202-10-S1-info.pdf
Modeling glutamate diffusion and NMDA receptor activation revealed that postsynaptic densities larger than ≈0.2 μm2 can accommodate two populations of NMDA receptors with primarily nonoverlapping responsiveness
Summary
Spontaneous synaptic fusion is a feature in all synapses. These random release events have been extremely instrumental in the analysis of unitary properties of neurotransmission. Address: 1Department of Mathematics, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, 76019, USA and 2Departments of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA Email: Jianzhong Su* - su@uta.edu * Corresponding author from Eighteenth Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS*2009 Berlin, Germany.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
