|
|
||||||||
Yale University School of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, PO Box 208020, New Haven, CT 06520-8020

Mitochondria are the predominant organelle within many presynaptic terminals. During times of high synaptic activity, they affect intracellular calcium homeostasis and provide the energy needed for synaptic vesicle recycling and for the continued operation of membrane ion pumps. Recent discoveries have altered our ideas about the role of mitochondria in the synapse. Mitochondrial localization, morphology, and docking at synaptic sites may indeed alter the kinetics of transmitter release and calcium homeostasis in the presynaptic terminal. In addition, the mitochondrial ion channel BCL-xL, known as a protector against programmed cell death, regulates mitochondrial membrane conductance and bioenergetics in the synapse and can thereby alter synaptic transmitter release and the recycling of pools of synaptic vesicles. BCL-xL, therefore, not only affects the life and death of the cell soma, but its actions in the synapse may underlie the regulation of basic synaptic processes that subtend learning, memory and synaptic development.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
T. Miyawaki, T. Mashiko, D. Ofengeim, R. J. Flannery, K.-M. Noh, S. Fujisawa, L. Bonanni, M. V. L. Bennett, R. S. Zukin, and E. A. Jonas Ischemic preconditioning blocks BAD translocation, Bcl-xL cleavage, and large channel activity in mitochondria of postischemic hippocampal neurons PNAS, March 25, 2008; 105(12): 4892 - 4897. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Li, Y. Chen, A. F. Jones, R. H. Sanger, L. P. Collis, R. Flannery, E. C. McNay, T. Yu, R. Schwarzenbacher, B. Bossy, et al. Bcl-xL induces Drp1-dependent synapse formation in cultured hippocampal neurons PNAS, February 12, 2008; 105(6): 2169 - 2174. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. A. Hoeffer, A. Dey, N. Sachan, H. Wong, R. J. Patterson, J. M. Shelton, J. A. Richardson, E. Klann, and B. A. Rothermel The Down Syndrome Critical Region Protein RCAN1 Regulates Long-Term Potentiation and Memory via Inhibition of Phosphatase Signaling J. Neurosci., November 28, 2007; 27(48): 13161 - 13172. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| ASPET Journals | Pharmacological Reviews | Drug Metabolism and Disposition |
| Molecular Interventions | Molecular Pharmacology | J Pharmacology and Exp Therapeutics |