RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 N- and P/Q-Type Ca2+ Channels Mediate Transmitter Release with a Similar Cooperativity at Rat Hippocampal Autapses JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 2849 OP 2855 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.18-08-02849.1998 VO 18 IS 8 A1 Reid, Christopher A. A1 Bekkers, John M. A1 Clements, John D. YR 1998 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/18/8/2849.abstract AB The relationship between extracellular Ca2+concentration and EPSC amplitude was investigated at excitatory autapses on cultured hippocampal neurons. This relationship was steeply nonlinear, implicating the cooperative involvement of several Ca2+ ions in the release of each vesicle of transmitter. The cooperativity was estimated to be 3.1 using a power function fit and 3.3 using a Hill equation fit. However, simulations suggest that these values underestimate the true cooperativity. The role of different Ca2+ channel subtypes in shaping the Ca2+ dose–response relationship was studied using the selective Ca2+ channel blockers ω-agatoxin GIVA (ω-Aga), which blocks P/Q-type channels, and ω-conotoxin GVIA (ω-CTx), which blocks N-type channels. Both blockers broadened the dose–response relationship, and the Hill coefficient was reduced to 2.5 by ω-Aga and to 2.6 by ω-CTx. This broadening is consistent with a nonuniform distribution of Ca2+ channel subtypes across presynaptic terminals. The similar Hill coefficients in ω-Aga or ω-CTx suggest that there was no difference in the degree of cooperativity for transmitter release mediated via N- or P/Q-type Ca2+ channels. A model of the role of calcium in transmitter release is developed. It is based on a modified Dodge–Rahamimoff equation that includes a nonlinear relationship between extracellular and intracellular Ca2+ concentration, has a cooperativity of 4, and incorporates a nonuniform distribution of Ca2+channel subtypes across presynaptic terminals. The model predictions are consistent with all of the results reported in this study.