Mass spectrometric imaging of plasma membrane lipid alteration correlated with amperometrically measured activity-dependent plasticity in exocytosis

The mechanism of synaptic plasticity and its link to memory formation are of interest, yet relatively obscure, especially the initial chemical change in the cell membrane following transmitter release. To understand the chemical mechanism of plasticity, we studied how repetitive stimuli regulate certain membrane lipid species to enhance exocytotic release using mass spectrometric imaging. We found that increasing high-curvature lipid species and decreasing low-curvature lipids in the cell membrane favor the formation of a longer-lasting exocytotic fusion pore, resulting in higher release fraction for individual exocytotic events. The lipid changes observed following repetitive stimuli are similar to those after exposure to the cognitive enhancing drug, methylphenidate, examined in a previous study, and offer an interesting point of view regarding the link between plasticity and memory and cognition.