Title: Readily releasable vesicles recycle at the active zone of hippocampal synapses
Abstract: Significance Nerve cells communicate via the release of a neurotransmitter that is stored in synaptic vesicles. The availability of synaptic vesicles is thus crucial for synaptic function. Availability of synaptic vesicles is ensured by vesicle retrieval after fusion with the plasma membrane; however, the underlying mechanisms of membrane retrieval at hippocampal synapses are still debated. Here we show that synaptic vesicles are retrieved at the active zone without the assistance of coated vesicles. Such a mechanism is similar to “kiss and run” but contradicts the classical pathway via clathrin-coated vesicles.