RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Number of Glutamate Receptors Opened by Synaptic Stimulation in Single Hippocampal Spines
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 2054
OP 2064
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5066-03.2004
VO 24
IS 8
A1 Nimchinsky, Esther A.
A1 Yasuda, Ryohei
A1 Oertner, Thomas G.
A1 Svoboda, Karel
YR 2004
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/24/8/2054.abstract
AB The number of receptors opening after glutamate release is critical for understanding the sources of noise and the dynamic range of synaptic transmission. We imaged [Ca2+] transients mediated by synaptically activated NMDA receptors (NMDA-Rs) in individual spines in rat brain slices. We show that Ca2+ influx through single NMDA-Rs can be reliably detected, allowing us to estimate the number of receptors opening after synaptic transmission. This number is small: at the peak of the synaptic response, less than one NMDA-R is open, on average. Therefore, stochastic interactions between transmitter and receptor contribute substantially to synaptic noise, and glutamate occupies a small fraction of receptors. The number of receptors opening did not scale with spine volume, and smaller spines experience larger [Ca2+] transients during synaptic transmission. Our measurements further demonstrate that optical recordings can be used to study single receptors in intact systems.