Presynaptic calcium dynamics during short-term plasticity

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Communication between neurons occurs via synaptic contacts, information is coded by the temporal properties and the quantity of neurotransmitter release. Neurotramsitter release is tightly regulated and controlled by changes in presynaptic calcium concentration. Presynaptic activity leads to the activation of various types of calcium channels and hence calcium entry to the terminal from extracellular sources, in addition calcium can also be released from intracellular pools in an activity-dependent fashion. Dynamic changes in calcium concentration endow the terminal with the ability to operate at a wide variety of release modes. It has been long believed that that these various modes of presynaptic operation can be explained by changes in calcium concentration. In contrast, in the current proposal we propose to test the following hypothesis: