AI Article Synopsis
- Researchers used cryo-electron tomography to examine neurons in culture, enabling detailed three-dimensional imaging of cellular structures.
- The study focused on characterizing the organization of presynaptic and cytoskeletal components, as well as structures essential for axonal transport and endocytosis.
- They discovered that short linkers connect various vesicles and membranes in neurons, suggesting these linkers play a crucial role in organizing vesicles for important neuronal functions.
Article Abstract
Many cellular processes depend on a precise structural organization of molecular components. Here, we established that neurons grown in culture provide a suitable system for in situ structural investigations of cellular structures by cryo-electron tomography, a method that allows high resolution, three-dimensional imaging of fully hydrated, vitrified cellular samples. A higher level of detail of cellular components present in our images allowed us to quantitatively characterize presynaptic and cytoskeletal organization, as well as structures involved in axonal transport and endocytosis. In this way we provide a structural framework into which information from other methods need to fit. Importantly, we show that short pleomorphic linkers (tethers and connectors) extensively interconnect different types of spherical vesicles and other lipid membranes in neurons imaged in a close-to-native state. These linkers likely serve to organize and precisely position vesicles involved in endocytosis, axonal transport and synaptic release. Hence, structural interactions via short linkers may serve as ubiquitous vesicle organizers in neuronal cells.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986143 | PMC |
| http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0197886 | PLOS |
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