Presynaptic facilitation: Quantal analysis and simulations ?
The time-course of quantal neurosecretion indicated asynchrony in releases of presynaptic vesicles (quanta) in response to a stimulus. This was interpreted as reflecting the sequential release of vesicles from a single release site. We performed Monte-Carlo simulation of facilitated neurosecretion based upon the hypothesis that release sites do not limit transmitter release. The output of this simulation succeeded in reproducing the experimentally obtained distribution of quantal releases. These results support a model for neurosecretion in which each action potential evokes mobilization of synaptic vesicles to a single presynaptic release site followed by probabilistic secretion of releasable vesicles one after another.
neurosecretion modeling synaptic plasticity electrophysiology