Increased Expression of Alpha-synuclein Reduces Neurotransmitter Release by Inhibiting Synaptic Vesicle Reclustering After Endocytosis

Overview

Journal Neuron

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Neurology

Date 2010 Feb 16

PMID 20152114

Citations 565

Authors

Venu M Nemani

Wei Lu

Victoria Berge

Ken Nakamura

Bibiana Onoa

Michael K Lee

Farrukh A Chaudhry

Roger A Nicoll

Robert H Edwards

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The protein alpha-synuclein accumulates in the brain of patients with sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD), and increased gene dosage causes a severe, dominantly inherited form of PD, but we know little about the effects of synuclein that precede degeneration. alpha-Synuclein localizes to the nerve terminal, but the knockout has little if any effect on synaptic transmission. In contrast, we now find that the modest overexpression of alpha-synuclein, in the range predicted for gene multiplication and in the absence of overt toxicity, markedly inhibits neurotransmitter release. The mechanism, elucidated by direct imaging of the synaptic vesicle cycle, involves a specific reduction in size of the synaptic vesicle recycling pool. Ultrastructural analysis demonstrates reduced synaptic vesicle density at the active zone, and imaging further reveals a defect in the reclustering of synaptic vesicles after endocytosis. Increased levels of alpha-synuclein thus produce a specific, physiological defect in synaptic vesicle recycling that precedes detectable neuropathology.

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