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Modeling of quantal neurotransmitter release kinetics in the presence of fixed and mobile calcium buffers

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Abstract

The local calcium concentration in the active zone of secretion determines the number and kinetics of neurotransmitter quanta released after the arrival of a nerve action potential in chemical synapses. The small size of mammalian neuromuscular junctions does not allow direct measurement of the correlation between calcium influx, the state of endogenous calcium buffers determining the local concentration of calcium and the time course of quanta exocytosis. In this work, we used computer modeling of quanta release kinetics with various levels of calcium influx and in the presence of endogenous calcium buffers with varying mobilities. The results of this modeling revealed the desynchronization of quanta release under low calcium influx in the presence of an endogenous fixed calcium buffer, with a diffusion coefficient much smaller than that of free Ca2+, and synchronization occurred upon adding a mobile buffer. This corresponds to changes in secretion time course parameters found experimentally (Samigullin et al., Physiol Res 54:129–132, 2005; Bukharaeva et al., J Neurochem 100:939–949, 2007).

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Abbreviations

TCS:

time course of secretion

BAPTA-AM:

1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid tetrakis acetoxymethyl ester

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Maria Bykhovskaia and Dr. Andrey Skorinkin for critical reading of the manuscript. Supported by GAAVA5011411, GACR305/02/1333, and MSMT11310003 for FV, by RFBR 08-04-00923, Russian Scientific Schools—4177.2008.4 for EN, by “Russian Science Support Foundation” for DS, by US Civilian Research and Development Foundation (RUB1-2823-KA06) for EB and DS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 30, Kazan, 420111, Russia

    Iskander R. Gilmanov, Dmitry V. Samigullin, Eugeny E. Nikolsky & Ellya A. Bukharaeva

  2. Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Viničná 7, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    František Vyskočil

  3. Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20, Prague 4, Czech Republic

    František Vyskočil

  4. Kazan State Medical University, Butlerov st. 49, Kazan, 420012, Russia

    Eugeny E. Nikolsky & Ellya A. Bukharaeva

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  1. Iskander R. Gilmanov
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  2. Dmitry V. Samigullin
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  3. František Vyskočil
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Correspondence to František Vyskočil.

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Gilmanov, I.R., Samigullin, D.V., Vyskočil, F. et al. Modeling of quantal neurotransmitter release kinetics in the presence of fixed and mobile calcium buffers. J Comput Neurosci 25, 296–307 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10827-008-0079-5

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