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VAMP4 directs synaptic vesicles to a pool that selectively maintains asynchronous neurotransmission

Nature Neuroscience volume 15, pages 738–745 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Synaptic vesicles in the brain harbor several soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive-factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins. With the exception of synaptobrevin2, or VAMP2 (syb2), which is directly involved in vesicle fusion, the role of these SNAREs in neurotransmission is unclear. Here we show that in mice syb2 drives rapid Ca2+-dependent synchronous neurotransmission, whereas the structurally homologous SNARE protein VAMP4 selectively maintains bulk Ca2+-dependent asynchronous release. At inhibitory nerve terminals, up- or downregulation of VAMP4 causes a correlated change in asynchronous release. Biochemically, VAMP4 forms a stable complex with SNAREs syntaxin-1 and SNAP-25 that does not interact with complexins or synaptotagmin-1, proteins essential for synchronous neurotransmission. Optical imaging of individual synapses indicates that trafficking of VAMP4 and syb2 show minimal overlap. Taken together, these findings suggest that VAMP4 and syb2 diverge functionally, traffic independently and support distinct forms of neurotransmission. These results provide molecular insight into how synapses diversify their release properties by taking advantage of distinct synaptic vesicle–associated SNAREs.

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Figure 1: Synaptic localization of VAMP4.
Figure 2: VAMP4 mediates evoked asynchronous neurotransmitter release.
Figure 3: VAMP4-mediated evoked neurotransmitter release is susceptible to slow Ca2+ buffering.
Figure 4: VAMP4 loss-of-function attenuates extent of asynchronous release.
Figure 5: Ternary complex of VAMP4 with syntaxin 1 and SNAP-25 does not engage complexins or synaptotagmin 1.
Figure 6: Trafficking of VAMP4 at central synapses.
Figure 7: VAMP4 traffics independently of syb2.
Figure 8: VAMP4 trafficking enables asynchronous release during intense activity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Leitz for technical assistance and H. Kramer, L. Monteggia, E. Nelson and E. Nosyreva for advice and discussions. We also thank T.C. Südhof (Stanford University) for the gift of synaptobrevin2 knockout mice and M.C. Wilson (University of New Mexico) for the gift of SNAP-25 knockout mice. This work was supported by grants from the US National Institute of Mental Health to E.T.K. (MH066198). E.T.K. is an established investigator of the American Heart Association.

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Author notes

  1. Jesica Raingo, Mikhail Khvotchev and Pei Liu: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Jesica Raingo, Mikhail Khvotchev, Pei Liu, Ying C Li, Denise M O Ramirez & Ege T Kavalali

  2. Electrophysiology Laboratory, Multidisciplinary Institute of Cellular Biology, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Jesica Raingo

  3. MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK

    Frederic Darios & Bazbek Davletov

  4. Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Megumi Adachi

  5. Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Québec, Québec, Canada

    Philippe Lemieux & Katalin Toth

  6. Department of Physiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Ege T Kavalali

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Contributions

J.R., M.K. and P. Liu conducted the majority of experiments presented in the manuscript. F.D. and B.D. conducted the biochemical analysis presented in Figure 5 and Supplementary Figure 8 and contributed to corresponding sections of manuscript. Y.C.L. and D.M.O.R. conducted dual-color imaging experiments. M.A. provided essential assistance with mouse breeding and genotyping. P. Lemieux and K.T. conducted immunoelectron microscopy and immunohistochemistry experiments (Fig. 1 and Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2) and contributed to corresponding sections of manuscript. J.R., M.K. and E.T.K. conceptualized and planned the study. E.T.K. wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Ege T Kavalali.

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Raingo, J., Khvotchev, M., Liu, P. et al. VAMP4 directs synaptic vesicles to a pool that selectively maintains asynchronous neurotransmission. Nat Neurosci 15, 738–745 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3067

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