Synaptic release at mammalian bipolar cell terminals

Abstract

Bipolar cells play a vital role in the transfer of visual information across the vertebrate retina. The synaptic output of these neurons is regulated by factors that are extrinsic and intrinsic. Relatively little is known about the intrinsic factors that regulate neurotransmitter exocytosis. Much of what we know about intrinsic presynaptic mechanisms that regulate glutamate release has come from the study of the unusually large and accessible synaptic terminal of the goldfish rod-dominant bipolar cell, the Mb1 bipolar cell. However, over the past several years, examination of presynaptic mechanisms governing neurotransmitter release has been extended to the mammalian rod bipolar cell. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in our understanding of synaptic vesicle dynamics and neurotransmitter release in rodent rod bipolar cells and consider how these properties help to shape the synaptic output of the mammalian retina.