Grant: Operating Grant

Neurones in the nervous system communicate via synapses. Neurotransmitter is released from the presynaptic cell and this signals is sensed by the receptors of the potsynaptic cell. Neurotransmitter is packaged into small vesicles, which release their content up activation. It is generally accepted that presynaptic vesicles form a homogenous population in terms of their content and the variety of proteins embedded into the vesicle membrane. In contrast, our data show that vesicles are heterogeneous, their membrane contains different proteins and their release is triggered by different stimuli. The current grant will explore the functional consequences of this heterogeneity within the presynaptic terminal. We will investigate how different vesicles are generated, why their presence is necessary for the normal function of the brain. We will study how synaptic transmission and memory formation is influenced by the presence of different vesicle pools in the terminal.