Complexin inhibits spontaneous release and synchronizes Ca(2+)-triggered synaptic vesicle fusion by distinct mechanisms

Previously we showed that fast Ca(2+)-triggered vesicle fusion with reconstituted neuronal SNAREs and synaptotagmin-1 begins from an initial hemifusion-free membrane point contact, rather than a hemifusion diaphragm, using a single vesicle–vesicle lipid/content mixing assay (Diao et al., 2012). When complexin-1 was included, a more pronounced Ca(2+)-triggered fusion burst was observed, effectively synchronizing the process. Here we show that complexin-1 also reduces spontaneous fusion in the same assay. Moreover, distinct effects of several complexin-1 truncation mutants on spontaneous and Ca(2+)-triggered fusion closely mimic those observed in neuronal cultures. The very N-terminal domain is essential for synchronization of Ca(2+)-triggered fusion, but not for suppression of spontaneous fusion, whereas the opposite is true for the C-terminal domain. By systematically varying the complexin-1 concentration, we observed differences in titration behavior for spontaneous and Ca(2+)-triggered fusion. Taken together, complexin-1 utilizes distinct mechanisms for synchronization of Ca(2+)-triggered fusion and inhibition of spontaneous fusion. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.03756.001