Facilitation of transmitter release at squid synapses

Facilitation is shown to decay as a compound exponential with two time constants (T1, T2) at both giant and non-giant synapses in squid stellate ganglia bathed in solutions having low extracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca++]o). Maximum values of facilitation (F1) were significantly larger, and T1 was significantly smaller in giant than non-giant synapses. Decreases in [Ca++]o or increases in [Mn++]o had variable effects on T1 and F1, whereas decreases in temperature increased T1 but had insignificant effects on F1. The growth of facilitation during short trains of equal interval stimuli was adequately predicted by the linear summation model developed by Mallart and Martin (1967. J. Physiol. (Lond.). 193:676--694) for frog neuromuscular junctions. This result suggests that the underlying mechanisms of facilitation are similar in squid and other synapses which release many transmitter quanta.