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Cholinergic modulation of multivesicular release regulates striatal synaptic potency and integration

Nature Neuroscience volume 12, pages 1121–1128 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The pleiotropic actions of neuromodulators on pre- and postsynaptic targets make disentangling the mechanisms underlying regulation of synaptic transmission challenging. In the striatum, acetylcholine modulates glutamate release via activation of muscarinic receptors (mAchRs), although the consequences for postsynaptic signaling are unclear. Using two-photon microscopy and glutamate uncaging to examine individual synapses in the rat striatum, we found that glutamatergic afferents have a high degree of multivesicular release (MVR) in the absence of postsynaptic receptor saturation. We found that mAchR activation decreased both the probability of release and the concentration of glutamate in the synaptic cleft. The corresponding decrease in synaptic potency reduced the duration of synaptic potentials and limited temporal summation of afferent inputs. These findings reveal a mechanism by which a combination of basal MVR and low receptor saturation allow the presynaptic actions of a neuromodulator to control the engagement of postsynaptic nonlinearities and regulate synaptic integration.

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Figure 1: Modulation of synaptic responses and passive properties of MSNs by mAchRs.
Figure 2: Optical quantal analysis of synaptic potency and failure rate.
Figure 3: mAchR activation increases synaptic failures and decreases NMDAR-mediated synaptic potency.
Figure 4: Activation of mAchRs does not modulate AMPAR-mediated currents.
Figure 5: Activation of mAchRs does not modulate NMDAR-mediated currents or Ca2+ transients.
Figure 6: Direct inhibition of vesicular release by blockade of presynaptic N-type Ca2+ channels reduces synaptic potency.
Figure 7: AMPARs and NMDARs are not saturated under basal release conditions.
Figure 8: Changes in synaptic potency regulate temporal integration of striatal glutamatergic synapses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank members of the Sabatini laboratory, A. Carter, W. Regehr and J. Cardin for helpful comments during the preparation of this manuscript. This work was funded by a Parkinson's Disease Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (M.J.H.), a Quan Predoctoral Fellowship and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke predoctoral National Research Service Award (1 F31 NS049655-01, G.J.S.-L.) and grants from the McKnight Foundation and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS046579, B.L.S.).

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  1. Michael J Higley and Gilberto J Soler-Llavina: These authors contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Department of Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Michael J Higley, Gilberto J Soler-Llavina & Bernardo L Sabatini

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Contributions

M.J.H., G.J.S.-L. and B.L.S. designed the experiments. M.J.H. and G.J.S.-L. carried out the experiments and analyzed the data. M.J.H. and B.L.S. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bernardo L Sabatini.

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Higley, M., Soler-Llavina, G. & Sabatini, B. Cholinergic modulation of multivesicular release regulates striatal synaptic potency and integration. Nat Neurosci 12, 1121–1128 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2368

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