Nouvian R, Beutner D, Parsons T D, Moser T
InnerEarLab, Department of Otolaryngology, Goettingen University Medical School, and Center for Molecular Physiology of the Brain, Robert-Koch-Strasse 40, 37075, Goettingen, Germany.
J Membr Biol. 2006 Feb-Mar;209(2-3):153-65. doi: 10.1007/s00232-005-0854-4. Epub 2006 May 25.
Faithful information transfer at the hair cell afferent synapse requires synaptic transmission to be both reliable and temporally precise. The release of neurotransmitter must exhibit both rapid on and off kinetics to accurately follow acoustic stimuli with a periodicity of 1 ms or less. To ensure such remarkable temporal fidelity, the cochlear hair cell afferent synapse undoubtedly relies on unique cellular and molecular specializations. While the electron microscopy hallmark of the hair cell afferent synapse--the electron-dense synaptic ribbon or synaptic body--has been recognized for decades, dissection of the synapse's molecular make-up has only just begun. Recent cell physiology studies have added important insights into the synaptic mechanisms underlying fidelity and reliability of sound coding. The presence of the synaptic ribbon links afferent synapses of cochlear and vestibular hair cells to photoreceptors and bipolar neurons of the retina. This review focuses on major advances in understanding the hair cell afferent synapse molecular anatomy and function that have been achieved during the past years.
毛细胞传入突触处准确的信息传递要求突触传递既可靠又具有时间精确性。神经递质的释放必须表现出快速的开启和关闭动力学，以便精确跟踪周期为1毫秒或更短的声音刺激。为确保如此卓越的时间保真度，耳蜗毛细胞传入突触无疑依赖于独特的细胞和分子特化。虽然毛细胞传入突触的电子显微镜标志——电子致密的突触带或突触体——已被认知数十年，但对该突触分子组成的剖析才刚刚开始。最近的细胞生理学研究为声音编码保真度和可靠性背后的突触机制提供了重要见解。突触带的存在将耳蜗和前庭毛细胞的传入突触与视网膜的光感受器和双极神经元联系起来。本综述重点关注过去几年在理解毛细胞传入突触分子解剖结构和功能方面取得的主要进展。
