Plasticity in exocytosis revealed through the effects of repetitive stimuli affect the content of nanometer vesicles and the fraction of transmitter released.

Electrochemical techniques with disk and nano-tip electrodes, together with calcium imaging, were used to examine the effect of short-interval repetitive stimuli on both exocytosis and vesicular content in a model cell line. We show that the number of events decreases markedly with repeated stimuli suggesting a depletion of exocytosis machinery. However, repetitive stimuli induce a more stable fusion pore, leading to an increased amount of neurotransmitter release. In contrast, the total neurotransmitter content inside the vesicles decreases after repetitive stimuli, resulting in a higher average release fraction from each event. We suggest a possible mechanism regarding a link between activity-induced plasticity and fraction of release.