DYNAMICS OF NEUROMUSCULAR TRANSMISSION REPRODUCED BY CALCIUM-DEPENDENT SERIAL TRANSITIONS IN THE VESICLE FUSION COMPLEX

Neuromuscular transmission, from spontaneous release to facilitation and depression was accurately reproduced by a mechanistic kinetic model of sequential maturation transitions in the molecular fusion complex. The model incorporates three predictions. First, sequential calcium-dependent forward transitions take vesicles from docked to pre-primed to primed states, followed by fusion. Second, pre-priming and priming are reversible. Third, fusion and recycling are unidirectional. The model was fed with experimental data from previous studies while the backward ({beta}) and recycling ({rho}) rate constant values were fitted. Classical experiments were successfully reproduced when every forward () rate constant had the same value, and both backward rate constants were 50-100 times larger. Such disproportion originated an abruptly decreasing gradient of resting vesicles from docked to primed states. Simulations also predict that: i. Spontaneous release reflects primed to fusion spontaneous transitions. ii. Calcium elevations synchronize the series of forward transitions that lead to fusion. iii Facilitation reflects a transient increase of priming following calcium-dependent transitions. iv. Backward transitions and recycling restore the resting state. v. Depression reflects backward transitions and slow recycling after intense release. Such finely-tuned kinetics offers a mechanism for collective non-linear transitional adaptations of a homogeneous vesicle pool to an ever-changing pattern of electrical activity.