help button home button Biophys. J.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Biophys. J. BioFAST: First Published March 25, 2005. doi:10.1529/biophysj.104.053736
© 2005 by the Biophysical Society.

A more recent version of this article appeared on June 1, 2005.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Rapid PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
biophysj.104.053736v1
88/6/4411    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Author home page(s):
Christian Amatore
Stéphane Arbault
Imelda Bonifas
Yann Bouret
Marie Erard
Andy G Ewing
leslie A Sombers
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Amatore, C.
Right arrow Articles by Sombers, l. A
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Amatore, C.
Right arrow Articles by Sombers, l. A

CELL BIOPHYSICS

CORRELATION BETWEEN VESICLE QUANTAL SIZE AND FUSION PORE RELEASE IN CHROMAFFIN CELL EXOCYTOSIS

Christian Amatore 1*, Stéphane Arbault 1, Imelda Bonifas 1, Yann Bouret 1, Marie Erard 1, Andy G Ewing 2 and leslie A Sombers 2

1 Ecole Normale Superieure-CNRS
2 Pennsylvania State University

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: christian.amatore{at}ens.fr.

Submitted on September 29, 2004
Revised on December 5, 2004
Accepted on 18 March 2005


  Abstract
A significant number of exocytosis events recorded with amperometry demonstrate a pre-spike feature termed a "foot" and this foot has been correlated with messengers released via a transitory fusion pore prior to full exocytosis. We have compared amperometric spikes with a foot with spikes without a foot at chromaffin cells and found that the probability of detecting a distinct foot event is correlated to the amount of catecholamine released. The mean charge of the spikes with a foot was found to be twice that of the spikes without a foot, and the frequency of spikes displaying a foot was zero for small spikes increasing to about 50 % for large spikes. It is hypothesized that in chromaffin cells, where the dense core is believed to nearly fill the vesicle, the expanding core is a controlling factor in opening the fusion pore, that pre-fusion of two smaller vesicles leads to excess membrane, and that this slows pore expansion leading to an increased observation of events with a foot. Clearly, the physico-chemical properties of vesicles are key factors in the control of the dynamics of release through the fusion pore and the high and variable frequency of this release makes it highly significant.

Key Words: Amperometry, Foot, carbon fiber microelectrode, electrical charge, spike




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
T. Maritzen, D. J. Keating, I. Neagoe, A. A. Zdebik, and T. J. Jentsch
Role of the Vesicular Chloride Transporter ClC-3 in Neuroendocrine Tissue
J. Neurosci., October 15, 2008; 28(42): 10587 - 10598.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 FASEB J.Home page
Z. Chiti and A. G. Teschemacher
Exocytosis of norepinephrine at axon varicosities and neuronal cell bodies in the rat brain
FASEB J, August 1, 2007; 21(10): 2540 - 2550.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Biophys. JHome page
K. S. Tang, N. Wang, A. Tse, and F. W. Tse
Influence of Quantal Size and cAMP on the Kinetics of Quantal Catecholamine Release from Rat Chromaffin Cells
Biophys. J., April 15, 2007; 92(8): 2735 - 2746.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurophysiol.Home page
C. P. Grabner and A. P. Fox
Stimulus-Dependent Alterations in Quantal Neurotransmitter Release
J Neurophysiol, December 1, 2006; 96(6): 3082 - 3087.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Copyright © 2005 by the Biophysical Society.