Synaptic vesicle trafficking includes vesicle docking, priming, fusion, endocytosis, recycling, and refilling at the presynaptic terminal.[1][2] These steps determine how reliably neurons convert action potentials into neurotransmitter release.
Disturbance of synaptic vesicle trafficking can drive early synaptic failure before overt neuron loss.[1:1][2:1] This is particularly relevant to NeuroWiki because presynaptic trafficking defects intersect with alpha-synuclein aggregation, synaptic transmission, and vesicle-recycling genes linked to neurologic disease.
Alpha-synuclein promotes SNARE-complex assembly in vivo and in vitro. Science (2010). ↩︎ ↩︎
Synaptopathies: synaptic dysfunction in neurological disorders - A review from students to students. Journal of Neurochemistry (2016). ↩︎ ↩︎