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Mitochondrial Delivery Is Essential for Synaptic Potentiation

Biophysics and Physiology, University of California, Irvine, California 92697; and Grass Laboratory, Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543

E-mail: tongja{at}uci.edu

Mitochondria, as portable generators that power synaptic function, regulate the ATP supply and calcium homeostasis in the neuron. As molecular interactions within the synapses before and after the potentiation are beginning to be elucidated, the deciding moment during the tetanic stimulation that gives rise to the strengthening of the synapse remains a mystery. Here, I recorded electrically from an intact Drosophila nervous system, while simultaneously using time-lapse confocal microscopy to visualize mitochondria labeled with green fluorescent protein. I show that tetanic stimulation triggers a fast delivery of mitochondria to the synapse, which facilitates synaptic potentiation. Rotenone, an inhibitor of mitochondrial electron transport chain complex I, suppresses mitochondrial transport and abolishes the potentiation of the synapse. Expression of neurofibromin, which improves mitochondrial ATP synthesis in the neuron, enhances the movements of mitochondria to the synapse and promotes post-tetanic potentiation. These findings provide unprecedented evidence that the mitochondrial delivery to the synapse is critical for cellular learning.

Abbreviations: drp1, dynamin-related protein • EJP, evoked junction potential • GFP, green fluorescent protein • NF1, Neurofibromatosis-1 gene • NMDA, N-methyl-D-aspartate • NMJ, neuromuscular junction • PKA, protein kinase A • TMRE, tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester