Differential Regulation of Excitatory vs Inhibitory Synaptic Release by Complexin/CPX-1 and CAPS/UNC-31 at the <i>C. elegans</i> Neuromuscular Junctions
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract The excitation and inhibition (E/I) balance at neuromuscular junctions plays a crucial role in coordinating animal motor behavior. Prominent synaptic vesicle secretory regulatory proteins, specifically complexin and CAPS (Calcium-dependent Activator Protein for Secretion), have not garnered sufficient attention for E/I balance regulation. Here, we investigate the roles of complexin/CPX-1 and CAPS/UNC-31 in excitatory vs inhibitory synapses of C. elegans neuromuscular junctions. In our study, cpx-1 null mutants displayed remarkable reduction evoked release in both excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Intriguingly, these mutants exhibited an enhanced level of spontaneous release, particularly within the context of excitatory synapse. This enhancement aligns with its “clamp” role that preventing SV from fusing with the presynaptic membrane. Additionally, a clamping-specific knockin mutant cpx-1(Δ12) , which displayed no alterations in evoked release at either type of synapse, also revealed a biased substantial increase in excitatory spontaneous release. In contrast, unc-31 null mutation, with normal spontaneous release, led to a more pronounced decreased evoked release in the excitatory synapse independent of dense-core vesicle regulation. Intriguingly, we found that the enhanced excitatory spontaneous release observed in cpx-1 mutants was abolished by unc-31 in a Ca 2+ -dependent manner, implying that UNC-31 is essential for maintaining a high level of spontaneous fusion events. Collectively, our findings unveil a distinct regulatory pattern governing excitatory and inhibitory synaptic release, orchestrated by the interplay of CPX-1 and UNC-31. Notably, we uncover an unforeseen role of UNC-31 in influencing CPX-1’s “clamp” function, further adding complexity to the neural dynamics, which may underlie complex behavioral phenotypes observed in C. elegans .
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".