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Science 20 July 2001:
Vol. 293. no. 5529, pp. 443 - 444
DOI: 10.1126/science.1063293
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Perspectives

NEUROSCIENCE:
The Meaning of a Mini

Patrik Verstreken and Hugo J. Bellen

The fusion of synaptic vesicles with the presynaptic membrane of the neuron in response to action potentials results in release of neurotransmitter into the synapse. But why are there spontaneous fusion events during which a single synaptic vesicle fuses with the presynaptic membrane in the absence of action potentials? As Verstreken and Bellen explain in their Perspective, it seems that spontaneous fusion does not merely reflect leakage of the synaptic machinery but rather is crucially important for organizing glutamate receptors in the postsynaptic neuromuscular junction of the developing fly (Saitoe et al.).

The authors are in the Program in Developmental Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Division of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mutation and Activation of Galpha s Similarly Alters Pre- and Postsynaptic Mechanisms Modulating Neurotransmission.
R. B. Renden and K. Broadie (2003)
J Neurophysiol 89, 2620-2638
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