Grants and Contracts Details
Description
Chemical synaptic transmission occurs by the release of transmitter in "packets" from the
presynaptic nerve terminal which then gives rise to postsynaptic alterations in a current
that may produce a synaptic potential depending on the electrochemical driving gradients
of the ions. The synaptic potentials are incremental in relation to the numbers of packets
of transmitter released (del Castillo and Katz, 1954). This is referred to as the "quantal
hypothesis" as proposed by del Castillo and Katz (1954). This is generally accepted as
when a packet of neurotransmitter within a clear core vesicle is released from the
presynaptic nerve terminal into the synaptic cleft. The transmitter will produce a quantal
postsynaptic current that can also be measured as a quantal potential. There is some
variation to quantal events that can may arise due to presynaptic as well as postsynaptic
factors. Here we will examine if there is a realtion to the anatomic differences of the
presynaptic terminal in realtion to synaptic efficacy. This student will address if there
is a good correlation between synaptic structure and physiologicaly, based on number and
spacing of active zones within defined recorded regions of the terminal and is there a
relationship of vesicle populations of synapses with different spacing between AZ?s.
Determination requires being able to serially reconstruct from numerous electron
micrographs the number of active zones and synapses that are present in the nerve terminal
from where the quantal measurements were taken.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 5/3/04 → 7/31/05 |
Funding
- National Science Foundation
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