GABAB receptors induce phasic release from medial habenula terminals through activity-dependent recruitment of release-ready vesicles.

GABAB receptor (GBR) activation inhibits neurotransmitter release in axon terminals in the brain, except in medial habenula (MHb) terminals, which show robust potentiation. However, mechanisms underlying this enigmatic potentiation remain elusive. Here, we report that GBR activation on MHb terminals induces an activity-dependent transition from a facilitating, tonic to a depressing, phasic neurotransmitter release mode. This transition is accompanied by a 4.1-fold increase in readily releasable vesicle pool (RRP) size and a 3.5-fold increase of docked synaptic vesicles (SVs) at the presynaptic active zone (AZ). Strikingly, the depressing phasic release exhibits looser coupling distance than the tonic release. Furthermore, the tonic and phasic release are selectively affected by deletion of synaptoporin (SPO) and Ca2+-dependent activator protein for secretion 2 (CAPS2), respectively. SPO modulates augmentation, the short-term plasticity associated with tonic release, and CAPS2 retains the increased RRP for initial responses in phasic response trains. The cytosolic protein CAPS2 showed a SV-associated distribution similar to the vesicular transmembrane protein SPO, and they were colocalized in the same terminals. We developed the "Flash and Freeze-fracture" method, and revealed the release of SPO-associated vesicles in both tonic and phasic modes and activity-dependent recruitment of CAPS2 to the AZ during phasic release, which lasted several minutes. Overall, these results indicate that GBR activation translocates CAPS2 to the AZ along with the fusion of CAPS2-associated SVs, contributing to persistency of the RRP increase. Thus, we identified structural and molecular mechanisms underlying tonic and phasic neurotransmitter release and their transition by GBR activation in MHb terminals.

Validation of a stereological method for estimating particle size and density from 2D projections with high accuracy.

Stereological methods for estimating the 3D particle size and density from 2D projections are essential to many research fields. These methods are, however, prone to errors arising from undetected particle profiles due to sectioning and limited resolution, known as 'lost caps'. A potential solution developed by Keiding, Jensen, and Ranek in 1972, which we refer to as the Keiding model, accounts for lost caps by quantifying the smallest detectable profile in terms of its limiting 'cap angle' (ϕ), a size-independent measure of a particle's distance from the section surface. However, this simple solution has not been widely adopted nor tested. Rather, model-independent design-based stereological methods, which do not explicitly account for lost caps, have come to the fore. Here, we provide the first experimental validation of the Keiding model by comparing the size and density of particles estimated from 2D projections with direct measurement from 3D EM reconstructions of the same tissue. We applied the Keiding model to estimate the size and density of somata, nuclei and vesicles in the cerebellum of mice and rats, where high packing density can be problematic for design-based methods. Our analysis reveals a Gaussian distribution for ϕ rather than a single value. Nevertheless, curve fits of the Keiding model to the 2D diameter distribution accurately estimate the mean ϕ and 3D diameter distribution. While systematic testing using simulations revealed an upper limit to determining ϕ, our analysis shows that estimated ϕ can be used to determine the 3D particle density from the 2D density under a wide range of conditions, and this method is potentially more accurate than minimum-size-based lost-cap corrections and disector methods. Our results show the Keiding model provides an efficient means of accurately estimating the size and density of particles from 2D projections even under conditions of a high density.

Subcellular patch-clamp techniques for single-bouton stimulation and simultaneous pre- and postsynaptic recording at cortical synapses.

Rigorous investigation of synaptic transmission requires analysis of unitary synaptic events by simultaneous recording from presynaptic terminals and postsynaptic target neurons. However, this has been achieved at only a limited number of model synapses, including the squid giant synapse and the mammalian calyx of Held. Cortical presynaptic terminals have been largely inaccessible to direct presynaptic recording, due to their small size. Here, we describe a protocol for improved subcellular patch-clamp recording in rat and mouse brain slices, with the synapse in a largely intact environment. Slice preparation takes ~2 h, recording ~3 h and post hoc morphological analysis 2 d. Single presynaptic hippocampal mossy fiber terminals are stimulated minimally invasively in the bouton-attached configuration, in which the cytoplasmic content remains unperturbed, or in the whole-bouton configuration, in which the cytoplasmic composition can be precisely controlled. Paired pre-postsynaptic recordings can be integrated with biocytin labeling and morphological analysis, allowing correlative investigation of synapse structure and function. Paired recordings can be obtained from mossy fiber terminals in slices from both rats and mice, implying applicability to genetically modified synapses. Paired recordings can also be performed together with axon tract stimulation or optogenetic activation, allowing comparison of unitary and compound synaptic events in the same target cell. Finally, paired recordings can be combined with spontaneous event analysis, permitting collection of miniature events generated at a single identified synapse. In conclusion, the subcellular patch-clamp techniques detailed here should facilitate analysis of biophysics, plasticity and circuit function of cortical synapses in the mammalian central nervous system.

Incomplete removal of extracellular glutamate controls synaptic transmission and integration at a cerebellar synapse.

Synapses of glutamatergic mossy fibers (MFs) onto cerebellar unipolar brush cells (UBCs) generate slow excitatory (ON) or inhibitory (OFF) postsynaptic responses dependent on the complement of glutamate receptors expressed on the UBC's large dendritic brush. Using mouse brain slice recording and computational modeling of synaptic transmission, we found that substantial glutamate is maintained in the UBC synaptic cleft, sufficient to modify spontaneous firing in OFF UBCs and tonically desensitize AMPARs of ON UBCs. The source of this ambient glutamate was spontaneous, spike-independent exocytosis from the MF terminal, and its level was dependent on activity of glutamate transporters EAAT1-2. Increasing levels of ambient glutamate shifted the polarity of evoked synaptic responses in ON UBCs and altered the phase of responses to in vivo-like synaptic activity. Unlike classical fast synapses, receptors at the UBC synapse are virtually always exposed to a significant level of glutamate, which varies in a graded manner during transmission.

Short-Term Plasticity at Hippocampal Mossy Fiber Synapses Is Induced by Natural Activity Patterns and Associated with Vesicle Pool Engram Formation.

Post-tetanic potentiation (PTP) is an attractive candidate mechanism for hippocampus-dependent short-term memory. Although PTP has a uniquely large magnitude at hippocampal mossy fiber-CA3 pyramidal neuron synapses, it is unclear whether it can be induced by natural activity and whether its lifetime is sufficient to support short-term memory. We combined in vivo recordings from granule cells (GCs), in vitro paired recordings from mossy fiber terminals and postsynaptic CA3 neurons, and "flash and freeze" electron microscopy. PTP was induced at single synapses and showed a low induction threshold adapted to sparse GC activity in vivo. PTP was mainly generated by enlargement of the readily releasable pool of synaptic vesicles, allowing multiplicative interaction with other plasticity forms. PTP was associated with an increase in the docked vesicle pool, suggesting formation of structural "pool engrams." Absence of presynaptic activity extended the lifetime of the potentiation, enabling prolonged information storage in the hippocampal network.

Functional Electron Microscopy, "Flash and Freeze," of Identified Cortical Synapses in Acute Brain Slices.

How structural and functional properties of synapses relate to each other is a fundamental question in neuroscience. Electrophysiology has elucidated mechanisms of synaptic transmission, and electron microscopy (EM) has provided insight into morphological properties of synapses. Here we describe an enhanced method for functional EM ("flash and freeze"), combining optogenetic stimulation with high-pressure freezing. We demonstrate that the improved method can be applied to intact networks in acute brain slices and organotypic slice cultures from mice. As a proof of concept, we probed vesicle pool changes during synaptic transmission at the hippocampal mossy fiber-CA3 pyramidal neuron synapse. Our findings show overlap of the docked vesicle pool and the functionally defined readily releasable pool and provide evidence of fast endocytosis at this synapse. Functional EM with acute slices and slice cultures has the potential to reveal the structural and functional mechanisms of transmission in intact, genetically perturbed, and disease-affected synapses.

Plasticity-dependent, full detonation at hippocampal mossy fiber-CA3 pyramidal neuron synapses.

Mossy fiber synapses on CA3 pyramidal cells are 'conditional detonators' that reliably discharge postsynaptic targets. The 'conditional' nature implies that burst activity in dentate gyrus granule cells is required for detonation. Whether single unitary excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) trigger spikes in CA3 neurons remains unknown. Mossy fiber synapses exhibit both pronounced short-term facilitation and uniquely large post-tetanic potentiation (PTP). We tested whether PTP could convert mossy fiber synapses from subdetonator into detonator mode, using a recently developed method to selectively and noninvasively stimulate individual presynaptic terminals in rat brain slices. Unitary EPSPs failed to initiate a spike in CA3 neurons under control conditions, but reliably discharged them after induction of presynaptic short-term plasticity. Remarkably, PTP switched mossy fiber synapses into full detonators for tens of seconds. Plasticity-dependent detonation may be critical for efficient coding, storage, and recall of information in the granule cell-CA3 cell network.

ON and OFF unipolar brush cells transform multisensory inputs to the auditory system.

Unipolar brush cells (UBCs) of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) and vestibular cerebellar cortex receive glutamatergic mossy fiber input on an elaborate brush-like dendrite. Two subtypes of UBC have been established based on immunohistochemical markers and physiological profiles, but the relation of these subtypes to the response to mossy fiber input is not clear. We examined the synaptic physiology of auditory UBCs in mouse brain slices, identifying two response profiles, and correlated each with a specific UBC subtype. One subtype had a striking biphasic excitatory response mediated by AMPAR and mGluR1α. The second was mGluR1α negative and was dominated by a strongly inhibitory outward K(+) current. These two subtypes upregulated or downregulated spontaneous firing, respectively. By analogy to the retina, we propose that UBCs comprise ON and OFF cells with respect to their response to glutamatergic input and may therefore provide distinct parallel processing of multisensory input to their targets.