Astrocytes are neuroglial cells in the nervous system that participate in cellular communication via vesicle exo-/endocytosis. To better understand single vesicle interactions with the plasmalemma, we employed electrophysiological cell-attached capacitance measurements and super-resolution structured illumination microscopy, and examined the effects of different pharmacological agents on exo-/endocytosis and the fusion pore in cultured rat astrocytes. Ketamine, a lipophilic anesthetic with antidepressant action, inhibited evoked exocytotic BDNF secretion as well as full and transient vesicle fusions with the plasmalemma. Ketamine also inhibited endocytosis by evoking fusion pore flickering of vesicles that remained attached to the plasmalemma and were unable to undergo endocytotic fission. Similar to ketamine, the dynamin inhibitors Dynole-34-2 and Dyngo-4a caused flickering of fusion pores with decreased conductances. Using fluorescent dextrans and the lipophilic dye DiD, we demonstrated that dynamin inhibition prevents internalization of vesicles that instead likely remained attached to the plasmalemma via a flickering fusion pore. On the other hand, the dynamin activator Ryngo-1-23 decreased fusion pore flickering, favored a closed fusion pore configuration, and increased vesicle internalization. Dynamin is also involved in fusion of exocytotic VAMP2- and Syt4-positive vesicles. In contrast, the secondary messenger cAMP increased fusion pore conductance, favored an open fusion pore configuration, and caused larger vesicles to transit to full fusion. Whereas ketamine decreased secretion, cAMP increased the probability of gliotransmitter secretion. These newly discovered pharmacological effects on the fusion pore and exo-/endocytosis at the single vesicle level contribute to a better understanding of gliotransmission in neurophysiology.
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