Investigation of molecular basis of synaptic plasticity in glycinergic synapse

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K18382
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurochemistry/Neuropharmacology
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Ogino Kazutoyo 青山学院大学, 理工学部, 助教 (20551964)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: グリシン受容体 / シナプス可塑性 / CaMKII / ゼブラフィッシュ / マウスナー細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Glycinergic synaptic transmissions on a Mauthner cell (M-cell) are potentiated following repetitive exposure to acoustic stimuli. However, the molecular basis has not been elucidated. In this study, I used fluorescent protein tagged glycine receptor (Venus-GlyR) expressing M-cells of larval zebrafish as model cells to reveal the molecular basis. The M-cells enable to visualize synaptic accumulation of Venus-GlyR as a change in the fluorescent intensity. The present study revealed that synaptic GlyR clusters on a M-cells enlarge following persistent acoustic stimuli. Further efforts uncovered that CaMKII-dependent phosphorylation of gephyrin, scaffolding protein of inhibitory synapse, increases the binding affinity between gephyrin and GlyR. Our findings suggest that GlyR clustering enhancement driven by the gephyrin phosphorylation is a key mechanism of potentiation of glycinergic synaptic transmissions on a M-cell that was induced by the repetitive acoustic stimulation.

Free Research Field

神経科学