Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 111, Issue 14, Pages 5421-5426Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1319561111
Keywords
synaptic transmission; indefatigable
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Funding
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) [R01-DC008142, R01-DC006685, R01-DC011481]
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Present data support the conclusion that protons serve as an important neurotransmitter to convey excitatory stimuli from inner ear type I vestibular hair cells to postsynaptic calyx nerve terminals. Time-resolved pH imaging revealed stimulus-evoked extrusion of protons from hair cells and a subsequent buildup of [H+] within the confined chalice-shaped synaptic cleft (Delta pH similar to -0.2). Whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings revealed a concomitant nonquantal excitatory postsynaptic current in the calyx terminal that was causally modulated by cleft acidification. The time course of [H+] buildup limits the speed of this intercellular signaling mechanism, but for tonic signals such as gravity, protonergic transmission offers a significant metabolic advantage over quantal excitatory postsynaptic currents-an advantage that may have driven the proliferation of postsynaptic calyx terminals in the inner ear vestibular organs of contemporary amniotes.
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