Grant Kusick

Hay Fellow, Department of Cell Biology and BCMB Graduate Program, Laboratory of Shigeki Watanabe, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Title: Transient docking of synaptic vesicles

Summary of the talk: Within the last five years, the dynamics of synaptic vesicle priming have been proposed as a key control point for neurotransmitter release and synaptic output. During activity, vesicles can be mobilized within milliseconds in a process termed 'transient docking'. Transient docking is driven by calcium signaling and the actin cytoskeleton, and we have identified underlying proteins that sense calcium and regulate actin. I will present a model in which transient docking, triggered by the calcium sensor synaptotagmin 7, supports asynchronous neurotransmitter release and short-term synaptic plasticity.