Cryo-EM of proton pumps in the mammalian brain

Intercellular communication in the nervous system occurs through the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft between neurons. In the presynaptic neuron, the proton pumping vesicular- or vacuolar-type ATPase (V-ATPase) powers neurotransmitter loading into synaptic vesicles (SVs), with the V1 complex dissociating from the membrane region of the enzyme before exocytosis. We are using cryo-EM to understand the mechanism V-ATPase in synaptic vesicle loading, including the reversible dissociation and developing methods to image the enzyme in its native context.

Speaker: John Rubenstein, University of Toronto