Neuronal calcium sensor 1 and activity-dependent facilitation of P/Q-type calcium currents at presynaptic nerve terminals

P/Q-type presynaptic calcium currents (I-pCa) undergo activity-dependent facilitation during repetitive activation at the calyx of the Held synapse. We investigated whether neuronal calcium sensor 1 (NCS-1) may underlie this phenomenon. Direct loading of NCS-1 into the nerve terminal mimicked activity-dependent I-pCa facilitation by accelerating the activation time of I-pCa in a Ca2+-dependent manner. A presynaptically loaded carboxyl-terminal peptide of NCS-1 abolished I-pCa facilitation. These results suggest that residual Ca2+ activates endogenous NCS-1, thereby facilitating I-pCa. Because both P/Q-type Ca2+ channels and NCS-1 are widely expressed in mammalian nerve terminals, NCS-1 may contribute to the activity-dependent synaptic facilitation at many synapses.