Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields Facilitate Vesicle Endocytosis by Increasing Presynaptic Calcium Channel Expression at a Central Synapse.

Author: Sun ZC1, Ge JL1, Guo B2, Guo J1, Hao M1, Wu YC1, Lin YA1, La T1, Yao PT1, Mei YA3, Feng Y4, Xue L1.
Affiliation:
1State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Life Sciences and Collaborative Innovation Centre for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, P.R.China. 2Institute of Genetics, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R.China. 3Institutes of Brain Science, School of Life Sciences and State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, P.R.China. 4Department of Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, 200080, P.R.China.
Conference/Journal: Sci Rep.
Date published: 2016 Feb 18
Other: Volume ID: 6 , Pages: 21774 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1038/srep21774. , Word Count: 192


Accumulating evidence suggests significant biological effects caused by extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF). Although exo-endocytosis plays crucial physical and biological roles in neuronal communication, studies on how ELF-EMF regulates this process are scarce. By directly measuring calcium currents and membrane capacitance at a large mammalian central nervous synapse, the calyx of Held, we report for the first time that ELF-EMF critically affects synaptic transmission and plasticity. Exposure to ELF-EMF for 8 to 10 days dramatically increases the calcium influx upon stimulation and facilitates all forms of vesicle endocytosis, including slow and rapid endocytosis, endocytosis overshoot and bulk endocytosis, but does not affect the RRP size and exocytosis. Exposure to ELF-EMF also potentiates PTP, a form of short-term plasticity, increasing its peak amplitude without impacting its time course. We further investigated the underlying mechanisms and found that calcium channel expression, including the P/Q, N, and R subtypes, at the presynaptic nerve terminal was enhanced, accounting for the increased calcium influx upon stimulation. Thus, we conclude that exposure to ELF-EMF facilitates vesicle endocytosis and synaptic plasticity in a calcium-dependent manner by increasing calcium channel expression at the nerve terminal.

PMID: 26887777 [PubMed - in process]

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