In this issue of Neuron, Tischbirek et al. (2012) reveal

that APDs are released Ivacaftor price during SV fusion at concentrations sufficient to inhibit presynaptic voltage-gated sodium channels. This results in reduced presynaptic calcium influx, which limits subsequent SV exocytosis and neurotransmitter release ( Figure 1). Therefore, in addition to established high affinity effects on dopaminergic receptors by the free circulating drug, Tischbirek et al. (2012) describe a novel lower-affinity, use-dependent effect at voltage-gated sodium channels that only manifests during evoked neurotransmitter release. To demonstrate vesicular accumulation of APDs, the fluorescent reporter lysotracker red (LTR) was used as a mimic of drug behavior. LTR is also a weak base, and was shown to accumulate in SVs by either colocalization with presynaptic markers or photoconversion followed by ultrastructural http://www.selleckchem.com/products/Bafilomycin-A1.html analysis (Tischbirek et al., 2012). Importantly Tischbirek and colleagues also demonstrated that LTR was released

on stimulation with a train of action potentials, indicating that the dye (and by extension APDs) could be released by SV exocytosis. Parallel mathematical modeling studies predicted that APDs would be accumulated inside SVs in the micromolar range. Therefore, Tischbirek et al. (2012) next questioned whether acute application of such concentrations of APDs modulated presynaptic function. The effects of four

APDs were assessed (haloperidol, chlorpromazine, clozapine, and risperidone). SV exocytosis was monitored using the pH-sensitive fluorescent genetic reporter synaptopHluorin (Sankaranarayanan and Ryan, 2000) and calcium influx measured using the fluorescent dye fluo-4. In all cases, acute PDK4 application of APDs inhibited both calcium influx and SV exocytosis evoked by action potential stimulation in a dose-dependent manner. Both effects were due to an upstream inhibition of voltage-gated sodium channels, since acute APD application had no effect on SV exocytosis elicited by KCl, a stimulus that bypasses these channels. This observed inhibition of presynaptic function by APDs can only be physiologically relevant if the drugs were (1) concentrated inside SVs and (2) released on neuronal stimulation. To test this, Tischbirek et al. (2012) applied APDs to cultured neurons which had previously accumulated LTR. This resulted in displacement of LTR, providing indirect evidence that APDs were accumulating in SVs. Unfortunately, APD enrichment inside SVs was not directly confirmed (by using fluorescent-labeled APDs for example; Rayport and Sulzer, 1995). Therefore, a direct estimate of the intravesicular concentration of APDs could not be determined. Importantly, however, APDs were shown to be released on neuronal stimulation in vivo, in experiments performed using animals treated with clinically relevant doses of haloperidol.