Structural plasticity of hippocampal mossy fiber synapses as revealed by high-pressure freezing.
Standard
Structural plasticity of hippocampal mossy fiber synapses as revealed by high-pressure freezing. / Zhao, Shanting; Studer, Daniel; Chai, Xuejun; Graber, Werner; Brose, Nils; Nestel, Sigrun; Young, Christina; Rodriguez, E Patricia; Saetzler, Kurt; Frotscher, Michael.
In: J COMP NEUROL, Vol. 520, No. 11, 11, 2012, p. 2340-2351.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural plasticity of hippocampal mossy fiber synapses as revealed by high-pressure freezing.
AU - Zhao, Shanting
AU - Studer, Daniel
AU - Chai, Xuejun
AU - Graber, Werner
AU - Brose, Nils
AU - Nestel, Sigrun
AU - Young, Christina
AU - Rodriguez, E Patricia
AU - Saetzler, Kurt
AU - Frotscher, Michael
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Despite recent progress in fluorescence microscopy techniques, electron microscopy (EM) is still superior in the simultaneous analysis of all tissue components at high resolution. However, it is unclear to what extent conventional fixation for EM using aldehydes results in tissue alteration. Here we made an attempt to minimize tissue alteration by using rapid high-pressure freezing (HPF) of hippocampal slice cultures. We used this approach to monitor fine-structural changes at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses associated with chemically induced long-term potentiation (LTP). Synaptic plasticity in LTP has been known to involve structural changes at synapses including reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and de novo formation of spines. While LTP-induced formation and growth of postsynaptic spines have been reported, little is known about associated structural changes in presynaptic boutons. Mossy fiber synapses are assumed to exhibit presynaptic LTP expression and are easily identified by EM. In slice cultures from wildtype mice, we found that chemical LTP increased the length of the presynaptic membrane of mossy fiber boutons, associated with a de novo formation of small spines and an increase in the number of active zones. Of note, these changes were not observed in slice cultures from Munc13-1 knockout mutants exhibiting defective vesicle priming. These findings show that activation of hippocampal mossy fibers induces pre- and postsynaptic structural changes at mossy fiber synapses that can be monitored by EM.
AB - Despite recent progress in fluorescence microscopy techniques, electron microscopy (EM) is still superior in the simultaneous analysis of all tissue components at high resolution. However, it is unclear to what extent conventional fixation for EM using aldehydes results in tissue alteration. Here we made an attempt to minimize tissue alteration by using rapid high-pressure freezing (HPF) of hippocampal slice cultures. We used this approach to monitor fine-structural changes at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses associated with chemically induced long-term potentiation (LTP). Synaptic plasticity in LTP has been known to involve structural changes at synapses including reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and de novo formation of spines. While LTP-induced formation and growth of postsynaptic spines have been reported, little is known about associated structural changes in presynaptic boutons. Mossy fiber synapses are assumed to exhibit presynaptic LTP expression and are easily identified by EM. In slice cultures from wildtype mice, we found that chemical LTP increased the length of the presynaptic membrane of mossy fiber boutons, associated with a de novo formation of small spines and an increase in the number of active zones. Of note, these changes were not observed in slice cultures from Munc13-1 knockout mutants exhibiting defective vesicle priming. These findings show that activation of hippocampal mossy fibers induces pre- and postsynaptic structural changes at mossy fiber synapses that can be monitored by EM.
KW - Animals
KW - Mice
KW - Mice, Knockout
KW - Patch-Clamp Techniques
KW - Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials/physiology
KW - Long-Term Potentiation/physiology
KW - Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics/metabolism
KW - Synaptic Vesicles/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - CA3 Region, Hippocampal/growth & development/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Mossy Fibers, Hippocampal/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Nerve Fibers/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Pyramidal Cells/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Synapses/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Animals
KW - Mice
KW - Mice, Knockout
KW - Patch-Clamp Techniques
KW - Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials/physiology
KW - Long-Term Potentiation/physiology
KW - Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics/metabolism
KW - Synaptic Vesicles/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - CA3 Region, Hippocampal/growth & development/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Mossy Fibers, Hippocampal/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Nerve Fibers/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Pyramidal Cells/metabolism/ultrastructure
KW - Synapses/metabolism/ultrastructure
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
VL - 520
SP - 2340
EP - 2351
JO - J COMP NEUROL
JF - J COMP NEUROL
SN - 0021-9967
IS - 11
M1 - 11
ER -