Institute of Basic Medical Science, and Centre for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience, University of Oslo, PO Box 1105 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway.
Neuroscience. 2011 Sep 8;190:12-20. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.05.057. Epub 2011 Jun 22.
Brain function depends on a crucial feature: The ability of individual neurons to share packets of information, known as quantal transmission. Given the sheer number of tasks the brain has to deal with, this information sharing must be extremely rapid. Synapses are specialized points of contact between neurons, where fast transmission takes place. Though the basic elements and functions of the synapse had been established since the 1950s, the molecular basis for regulation of fast synaptic transmitter release was not known 20 years ago. However, around 1990, crucial discoveries were made by Richard Scheller, James Rothman, and Thomas Südhof, leading a few years later to the formulation of the SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) hypothesis and a new understanding of the molecular events controlling vesicular release of transmitter in synapses. The 2010 Kavli Prize in neuroscience was awarded to these three researchers, "for their work to reveal the precise molecular basis of the transfer of signals between nerve cells in the brain."
单个神经元共享信息包的能力，称为量子传递。鉴于大脑必须处理的任务数量之多，这种信息共享必须非常迅速。突触是神经元之间的专门接触点，快速传递发生在那里。尽管自 20 世纪 50 年代以来突触的基本元素和功能已经确立，但快速突触递质释放的调节的分子基础在 20 年前还不知道。然而，大约在 1990 年，理查德·谢勒尔（Richard Scheller）、詹姆斯·罗思曼（James Rothman）和托马斯·苏德霍夫（Thomas Südhof）做出了重要发现，几年后提出了 SNARE（可溶性 N-乙基马来酰亚胺敏感因子附着蛋白受体）假说，并对控制突触中递质囊泡释放的分子事件有了新的认识。2010 年神经科学卡夫利奖授予这三位研究人员，“因为他们的工作揭示了大脑中神经细胞之间信号传递的精确分子基础。”
