TY - JOUR AB - 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 Ca 2+ -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. AU - Koppensteiner, Peter AU - Bhandari, Pradeep AU - Önal, Hüseyin C AU - Borges Merjane, Carolina AU - Le Monnier, Elodie AU - Roy, Utsa AU - Nakamura, Yukihiro AU - Sadakata, Tetsushi AU - Sanbo, Makoto AU - Hirabayashi, Masumi AU - Rhee, JeongSeop AU - Brose, Nils AU - Jonas, Peter M AU - Shigemoto, Ryuichi ID - 15084 IS - 8 JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences SN - 0027-8424 TI - GABAB receptors induce phasic release from medial habenula terminals through activity-dependent recruitment of release-ready vesicles VL - 121 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Junctions between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the plasma membrane (PM) are specialized membrane contacts ubiquitous in eukaryotic cells. Concentration of intracellular signaling machinery near ER-PM junctions allows these domains to serve critical roles in lipid and Ca2+ signaling and homeostasis. Subcellular compartmentalization of protein kinase A (PKA) signaling also regulates essential cellular functions, however, no specific association between PKA and ER-PM junctional domains is known. Here, we show that in brain neurons type I PKA is directed to Kv2.1 channel-dependent ER-PM junctional domains via SPHKAP, a type I PKA-specific anchoring protein. SPHKAP association with type I PKA regulatory subunit RI and ER-resident VAP proteins results in the concentration of type I PKA between stacked ER cisternae associated with ER-PM junctions. This ER-associated PKA signalosome enables reciprocal regulation between PKA and Ca2+ signaling machinery to support Ca2+ influx and excitation-transcription coupling. These data reveal that neuronal ER-PM junctions support a receptor-independent form of PKA signaling driven by membrane depolarization and intracellular Ca2+, allowing conversion of information encoded in electrical signals into biochemical changes universally recognized throughout the cell. AU - Vierra, Nicholas C. AU - Ribeiro-Silva, Luisa AU - Kirmiz, Michael AU - Van Der List, Deborah AU - Bhandari, Pradeep AU - Mack, Olivia A. AU - Carroll, James AU - Le Monnier, Elodie AU - Aicher, Sue A. AU - Shigemoto, Ryuichi AU - Trimmer, James S. ID - 14253 JF - Nature Communications TI - Neuronal ER-plasma membrane junctions couple excitation to Ca2+-activated PKA signaling VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P2) plays an essential role in neuronal activities through interaction with various proteins involved in signaling at membranes. However, the distribution pattern of PI(4,5)P2 and the association with these proteins on the neuronal cell membranes remain elusive. In this study, we established a method for visualizing PI(4,5)P2 by SDS-digested freeze-fracture replica labeling (SDS-FRL) to investigate the quantitative nanoscale distribution of PI(4,5)P2 in cryo-fixed brain. We demonstrate that PI(4,5)P2 forms tiny clusters with a mean size of ∼1000 nm2 rather than randomly distributed in cerebellar neuronal membranes in male C57BL/6J mice. These clusters show preferential accumulation in specific membrane compartments of different cell types, in particular, in Purkinje cell (PC) spines and granule cell (GC) presynaptic active zones. Furthermore, we revealed extensive association of PI(4,5)P2 with CaV2.1 and GIRK3 across different membrane compartments, whereas its association with mGluR1α was compartment specific. These results suggest that our SDS-FRL method provides valuable insights into the physiological functions of PI(4,5)P2 in neurons. AU - Eguchi, Kohgaku AU - Le Monnier, Elodie AU - Shigemoto, Ryuichi ID - 13202 IS - 23 JF - The Journal of Neuroscience SN - 0270-6474 TI - Nanoscale phosphoinositide distribution on cell membranes of mouse cerebellar neurons VL - 43 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Upon the arrival of action potentials at nerve terminals, neurotransmitters are released from synaptic vesicles (SVs) by exocytosis. CaV2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 are the major subunits of the voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) responsible for increasing intraterminal calcium levels and triggering SV exocytosis in the central nervous system (CNS) synapses. The two-dimensional analysis of CaV2 distributions using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-digested freeze-fracture replica labeling (SDS-FRL) has revealed their numbers, densities, and nanoscale clustering patterns in individual presynaptic active zones. The variation in these properties affects the coupling of VGCCs with calcium sensors on SVs, synaptic efficacy, and temporal precision of transmission. In this study, we summarize how the morphological parameters of CaV2 distribution obtained using SDS-FRL differ depending on the different types of synapses and could correspond to functional properties in synaptic transmission. AU - Eguchi, Kohgaku AU - Montanaro-Punzengruber, Jacqueline-Claire AU - Le Monnier, Elodie AU - Shigemoto, Ryuichi ID - 10890 JF - Frontiers in Neuroanatomy TI - The number and distinct clustering patterns of voltage-gated Calcium channels in nerve terminals VL - 16 ER -