Fernández-Chacón R, Südhof T C
Center for Basic Neuroscience, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas 75235-9050, USA.
Annu Rev Physiol. 1999;61:753-76. doi: 10.1146/annurev.physiol.61.1.753.
Synaptic transmission starts with the release of neurotransmitters by exocytosis of synaptic vesicles. As a relatively simple organelle with a limited number of components, synaptic vesicles are in principle accessible to complete structural and functional genetic analysis. At present, the majority of synaptic vesicle proteins has been characterized, and many have been genetically analyzed in mice, Drosophila, and Caenorhabditis elegans. These studies have shown that synaptic vesicles contain proteins with diverse structures and functions. Although the genetic studies are as yet unfinished, they promise to lead to a full description of synaptic vesicles as macromolecular machines involved in all aspects of presynaptic neurotransmitter release.
突触传递始于突触小泡通过胞吐作用释放神经递质。作为一种组成成分有限的相对简单的细胞器，原则上突触小泡可进行完整的结构和功能基因分析。目前，大多数突触小泡蛋白已得到表征，并且许多已在小鼠、果蝇和秀丽隐杆线虫中进行了基因分析。这些研究表明，突触小泡含有结构和功能各异的蛋白质。尽管基因研究尚未完成，但它们有望全面描述突触小泡作为参与突触前神经递质释放各个方面的大分子机器。
