This book brings together leading international experts to discuss recent advances in functional studies on key proteins and protein complexes involved in each synaptic vesicle phase. These include proteins that control the final step of neurotransmitter release, in response to a neural signal, and the first step of vesicle endocytosis, which helps maintain stable neurotransmitter release in response to unceasing neural signals arriving at presynaptic terminals. Neural networks transmit input and output signals of action potentials using chemical synapses. The strength of the signal from one to another neuron can be tuned by the neural signal itself as it induces Ca2+ entry and by other neurons’ signals that modify Ca2+ entry through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels at the active zone, where chemical neurotransmitters are released from synaptic vesicles via exocytosis. Synaptic vesicles are docked and primed at the active zone prior to exocytosis and are endocytosed after exocytosis for reuse at a small presynaptic terminal. Recycled vesicles are refilled with transmitters and stored for a future round of exocytosis. Thus, synaptic vesicles in presynaptic terminals go through various phases. Each vesicle phase is well orchestrated by numerous proteins and advance step-by-step with neural activities. The fine regulations of synaptic vesicle phases by numerous proteins is an exciting subject, and systematic, well-organized explanations in this book will help the reader easily learn about complicated molecular mechanisms in presynaptic terminals.

This book provides the reader with background information on neurotransmitter release. Emphasis is placed on the rationale by which proteins are assigned specific functions rather than just providing facts about function.

Studies of human movement have proliferated in recent years, and there have been many studies of spinal pathways in humans, their role in movement, and their dysfunction in neurological disorders. This comprehensive reference surveys the literature related to the control of spinal cord circuits in human subjects, showing how they can be studied, their role in normal movement, and how they malfunction in disease states. Chapters are highly illustrated and consistently organised, reviewing, for each pathway, the experimental background, methodology, organisation and control, role during motor tasks, and changes in patients with CNS lesions. Each chapter concludes with a helpful resume that can be used independently of the main text to provide practical guidance for clinical studies. This will be essential reading for research workers and clinicians involved in the study, treatment and rehabilitation of movement disorders.

Jasper's Basic Mechanisms, Fourth Edition, is the newest most ambitious and now clinically relevant publishing project to build on the four-decade legacy of the Jasper's series. In keeping with the original goal of searching for "a better understanding of the epilepsies and rational methods of prevention and treatment.", the book represents an encyclopedic compendium neurobiological mechanisms of seizures, epileptogenesis, epilepsy genetics and comordid conditions. Of practical importance to the clinician, and new to this edition are disease mechanisms of genetic epilepsies and therapeutic approaches, ranging from novel antiepileptic drug targets to cell and gene therapies.

Advances in the Biosciences, Volume 82: Presynaptic Receptors and Neuronal Transporters documents the proceedings of the Official Satellite Symposium to the IUPHAR 1990 Congress held in Rouen, France on June 26-29, 1990. The first part of this book deals with the extensive and still increasing list of presynaptic release-modulating auto and heteroreceptors, emphasizing the various subtypes of presynaptic receptors that are characterized by functional studies, both in vitro and in vivo, using a number of experimental approaches. The next chapters are devoted to the molecular pharmacology of presynaptic receptors, of which can interfere with G proteins and modify the activity of adenylate cyclase, guanylate cyclase, or protein kinase C. The purification and molecular biology of transporter systems, including cloning and sequencing of the neuronal sodium-ion coupled GABA transporter are also discussed. This compilation concludes with insights on the function of presynaptic receptors and neuronal transporters both in the periphery and in the CNS, as well as their ubiquitous locations and physiological roles. This publication is a good reference for students and individuals researching on the presynaptic autoreceptors and neurotransmitters.

Synaptic transmission is the basis of neuronal communication and is thus the most important element in brain functions, ranging from sensory input to information processing. Changes in synaptic transmission can result in the formation or dissolution of memories, and can equally lead to neurological and psychiatric disorders. The proteins composing the synapse, and their respective functions, are getting increasingly known. One aspect that has become evident in the last years is that most synaptic functions are performed not by single proteins, but by highly organized multi-protein machineries, which interact dynamically to provide responses optimally suited to the needs of the neuronal network. To decipher synaptic and neuronal function, it is essential to understand the organisational, morphological and functional aspects of the molecular nanomachines that operate at the synapse. We discuss these aspects in 11 different chapters, focusing on the structure and function of the active zone, on the functional anatomy of the synaptic vesicle, and on some of the best known soluble protein complexes from the synapse, including those involved in endocytosis and vesicle recycling.

It has been known for half a century that neurotransmitters are released in preformed quanta, that the quanta represent transmitter-storing vesicles, and that release occurs by exocytosis. The focus of this book is twofold. In the first part, the molecular events of exocytosis are analysed. In the second part of the book, the presynaptic receptors for endogenous chemical signals are presented that make neurotransmitter release a highly regulated process.