Ultrafast endocytosis in mouse cortical inhibitory synapses

Abstract

Neural circuitry depends on excitatory and inhibitory regulation of activity to yield functional outputs. However, examinations of synaptic vesicle recycling have focused heavily on excitatory synapses, leaving many questions unanswered for inhibitory synapse dynamics. Here we show that both excitatory and inhibitory cortical synapses contain depots of a protein essential for ultrafast endocytosis, Dynamin 1xA, at a region immediately next to the active zone where ultrafast endocytosis takes place. Using zap- and-freeze time-resolved electron microscopy in mouse acute cortical slices, we observe uncoated pits reminiscent of ultrafast endocytic intermediates appearing post-stimulus at putative inhibitory synapses. These findings suggest that excitatory and inhibitory synapses may perform similar modes of endocytosis.