Biophysical Journal 67: 966-972 (1994)
© 1994 the Biophysical Society

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Diffusion cannot govern the discharge of neurotransmitter in fast synapses.

Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

ABSTRACT

In the present work we show that diffusion cannot provide the observed fast discharge of neurotransmitter from a synaptic vesicle during neurotransmitter release, mainly because it is not sufficiently rapid nor is it sufficiently temperature-dependent. Modeling the discharge from the vesicle into the cleft as a continuous point source, we have determined that discharge should occur in 50-75 microseconds, to provide the observed high concentrations of transmitter at the critical zone.

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