exam 2 cards Flashcards
what steps occur in vesicle secretion?
Action potential, nerve terminal depolarization, activation of voltage gated calcium channels, calcium enters down a strong gradient , calcium triggers transmitter release, exocytosis of neurotransmitter, transmitter crosses synaptic cleft, transmitter binds to receptor, postsynaptic conductance change, action potential
what is synaptic delay?
time between a presynaptic AP and a postsynaptic effect (1 msec)
what step in neurotransmission takes the most time?
activation and entry of calcium
What happens if you decrease calcium in the cell?
you will decrease the amount of NT secreted
What part of the AP is calcium entry?
the falling phase of the AP
What is the difference in [Ca++] intracellularly vs extracellularly?
Calcium is typically very high outside (2 mM) and very low inside (10-100 nM). This is 5 orders of magnitude greater on the outside of the cell versus the inside of the cell. This allows calcium to be a signaling ion.
Katz experiment: when you remove calcium from the bath, what happens to AP and vesicle release of the neurons?
there is no longer vesicle release, although AP and postsynaptic sensitivity are the same.
What happens when you add an ionic blocker for calcium (Mg++, Cd++)?
These compete with calcium and will block the release of calcium in the cell.
What happens when you include calcium ionophores/ liposomes?
first ionophores are molecules that package another molecule so that they can go across the plasma membrane. a liposome works by a similar method, the molecule is just packaged in lipids so it can transport across the membrane.
This allows molecules to be directly transported inside the cell. In this case a calcium ionophore or a liposome will cause vesicle release.
what happens when you load a terminal with caged calcium?
First… caged calcium is calcium that is trapped until it is released by a light signal.
Once the calcium is liberated (but not before) transmitter release occurs.
Calcium is necessary for….
release of neurotransmitter
Where in the cell is the concentration of calcium most important? How do we make sure it gets there?
[Ca++] is most important around the terminal.
an easy way to make sure it is used there is through a calcium ionophore.
What are the major calcium transporters in the cell?
Ca- Mg- ATPase, Na-Ca exchanger. These are important to maintain a relatively low level of intracellular calcium
What does Ca-Mg- ATPase do?
This transporter uses ATP to transport calcium out of the cell (against concentration gradient). It has a very high affinity for calcium.
This requires Mg as a cofactor for ATP binding
This mechanism results in one calcium transported out of the cell for every ATP hydrolyzed.
What does Na-Ca exchanger do?
This is activated by intracellular calcium, but has a much lower affinity than Ca-Mg- ATPase does.
this process is driven by the electrochemical gradient for Na
One calcium is extruded for every 3 Na+ ions entering the cell.
this is also an electrogenic pump that will depolarize the cell.
There is a low concentration of the Na-Ca exchanger in the cell, so it does not have a robust effect.
Calcium buffers: what are they and what is the effect?
These are free floating proteins that bind to calcium and lower the [Ca++] in the cell.
Typically these buffers include the ER, mitochondria, and proteins.
Explain how the two types of buffers (EGTA and BAPTA) work and how they
EGTA has a high affinity for calcium and a low speed of binding, BAPTA has a low affinity for calcium and a fast speed for binding.
EGTA will have little to no effect on vesicle release because it isn’t fast enough.
BAPTA will block release because it binds more quickly than the vesicle can be released.
You need a fast buffer to grab calcium after it enter the nerve terminal but before it binds to the secretory apparatus… this means that calcium entry and release must be very close to one another.
What concentration of calcium do we need to get transmitter release?
10-100um intracellularly.
what is a microdomain?
these are the calcium right under the calcium channel that trigger NT release.
What is short term plasticity? What increases it?
This is a balance between residual calcium effects that increase release and the depletion of vesicles.
This means that some calcium stays in the cell from the last AP, and then more rushes in form the next one. This increases [Ca++] overall and then increases the amount of NT released.
paired pulse facilitation
when two stimuli are delivered in rapid succession, the second stimuli evokes a larger response than the first.
tetanic potentiation
during a train of multiple stimuli at high frequency, there is a gradual increase in the amount of NT released.
post-tetanic potentiation
after a train of stimuli has ended, there is an increase in the amount of NT released with a single stimuli at a low frequency for some time.
lambert eaton myasthenic syndrome
theis is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own calcium channels at the active zones of the NMJ
This results from cancer in another part of the body. The body creates antibodies that attack the calcium channels of tumor cells. the antibodies for this cause LEMS because the antibodies attack the similar calcium channels in the calcium channels of the NMJ.
These antibodies reduce the number of functional calcium channels in the nerve terminal by removing them from the plasma membrane.
This makes people feel weak because not enough ACh is being released.
Treatment for lambert eaton syndrome
treat with potassium channel blockers. This will prolong the AP to increase calcium entry into the cell, and will therefore increase NT release.
Possible new treatments for LEMS
directly target the calcium channels to make the remaining channels stay open longer, drugs that act as agonists on calcium channels.
equation for describing relationship between calcium concentration vs. measure of voltage.
(multiple of the concentration change of calcium)^3 or 4 = multiple in the change in voltage.
example. .15-.3 change in calcium concentration (2 fold), equals a post synaptic change from .25 mV to 4 mV (16 fold)
2^4= 16.
This means that a small change in the calcium concentration of a synapse will cause a large change in the synaptic measure of release
What does the non-linear relationship of NT release to Ca concentration say about the mechanism?
It says that there must be multiple binding sites that bind in a cooperative manner for release to occur. This means that either one protein with multiple sites bind calcium, or multiple proteins, or something in between.
if it was just one binding site, the relationship would be linear.
What are the types of calcium channels that regulate NT release?
P- type and N-type. Some cells use a combination of the two.
Why would you use more than one type of calcium channel at the same synapse/
this allows for plasticity. different gating proterits will affect the timing of calcium entry.
different inactivation properties may allow one type to predominate during certain periods/ types of activity.
evidence against vesicles only having a storage role
the + charge of ACh predicts that release of ACh via a channel should alter the membrane potential
Changing the membrane potential would change the mEPP size
ACh release would have to be concentration dependent
Evidence in support of vesicular theory of release
direct visualization in freeze-fracture in a resting termina versus a stimulated terminal where vesicles are lined up against the pre and postsynaptic ends
This kind of image could not be achieved with chemical fixatives because the fixatives would kill the tissue.
what do capacitance experiments tell us about the nature of vesicles?
The capacitance change from vesicle release is negligible.
This means that the current doesnt change as predicted by release of NT without a vesicle.
how did researchers come up with the protein that calcium activates?
they incubated the nerve terminals in 32P.
Then they stimulated the terminal and isolated all phosphorylated proteins (12).
They then made antibodies against each type of protein to stain the cells.
they found one that bound to vesicles. This was “synapsin”
they isolated synapsin to look at structure, function.
difference between a phosphotase and a kinase?
a kinase phosphorylates
a phosphotase dephosphorylates.