Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMjurQ5i4PI

The Molecular Mechanism of Synchronous Neurotransmitter Release at Synapses
Air date: Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 3:00:00 PM Description: Membrane fusion is a fundamental biological process for organelle formation, nutrient uptake, and the secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters. Synchronous transmitter release enables neural circuits to keep pace, and results when docked synaptic vesicles are rapidly triggered to fuse with the pre-synaptic plasma membrane by calcium ions entering the nerve terminal. Membrane fusion in the nerve terminal and elsewhere is mediated by SNARE proteins, which assemble between the vesicle and plasma membrane. Biochemical studies have recently established that only two additional synapse-specific proteins mdash;synaptotagmin and complexin mdash;are needed to synchronize release by SNAREs and to add calcium dependence. Complexin cross-links assembling SNAREs into a highly co-operative array, freezing the frame of vesicle fusion to synchronize the readily-releasable pool. Upon binding calcium, Synaptotagmin releases the frozen SNAREs enabling them to rapidly complete assembly and release transmitter at the right time and place. James Edward Rothman is one of the world #39;s most distinguished biochemists and cell biologists and renowned for discovering the universal machinery that orchestrates the budding and fusion of membrane vesicles mdash;a process essential to organelle formation, nutrient uptake, and secretion of hormones and neurotransmitters. He studied physics as an undergraduate at Yale and received his Ph.D. degree in ...From:nihvcastViews:28 2ratingsTime:01:22:33More inScience Technology

See the original post here:
The Molecular Mechanism of Synchronous Neurotransmitter Release at Synapses - Video