Formation and stability of synaptic receptor domains

Neurotransmitter receptor molecules, concentrated in postsynaptic domains along with scaffold and a number of other molecules, are key regulators of signal transmission across synapses. Combining experiment and theory, we develop a quantitative description of synaptic receptor domains in terms of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 106; no. 23; p. 238104
Main Authors Haselwandter, Christoph A, Calamai, Martino, Kardar, Mehran, Triller, Antoine, da Silveira, Rava Azeredo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 08.06.2011
Subjects
Animals
Cell Culture Techniques
Cell Membrane - metabolism
Cercopithecus aethiops
COS Cells
Diffusion
Models, Biological
Neuronal Plasticity
Receptors, Glycine - chemistry
Receptors, Glycine - metabolism
Single-Cell Analysis - methods
Synapses - metabolism
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Summary:Neurotransmitter receptor molecules, concentrated in postsynaptic domains along with scaffold and a number of other molecules, are key regulators of signal transmission across synapses. Combining experiment and theory, we develop a quantitative description of synaptic receptor domains in terms of a reaction-diffusion model. We show that interactions between only receptors and scaffolds, together with the rapid diffusion of receptors on the cell membrane, are sufficient for the formation and stable characteristic size of synaptic receptor domains. Our work reconciles long-term stability of synaptic receptor domains with rapid turnover and diffusion of individual receptors, and suggests novel mechanisms for a form of short-term, postsynaptic plasticity.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.106.238104