EXOCYTOSIS OF SYNAPTIC VESICLES

The effects of a wide variety of agents on the release of vesicles fil led with neurotransmitters have been studied in synaptic junctions, pa rticularly the frog neuromuscular junction. Most of these treatments m odify [Ca2+](i) either transiently (altering evoked release) or in the longer term (altering the spontaneous release of single vesicles). Th e recent elucidation of the protein-protein interactions in the active zone during priming and exocytosis enables us to see how treatments t hat alter the slope of the double logarithmic plots of the number of v esicles released versus [Ca2+](o) are acting at the molecular level. M ed Sci Res 26:435-437 (C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers.