IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v5y2014i1d10.1038_ncomms5650.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quantitative super-resolution imaging of Bruchpilot distinguishes active zone states

Author

Listed:
  • Nadine Ehmann

    (Institute of Physiology, University of Würzburg)

  • Sebastian van de Linde

    (University of Würzburg)

  • Amit Alon

    (Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University)

  • Dmitrij Ljaschenko

    (Institute of Physiology, University of Würzburg)

  • Xi Zhen Keung

    (Institute of Physiology, University of Würzburg)

  • Thorge Holm

    (University of Würzburg)

  • Annika Rings

    (European Neuroscience Institute, University Medical Center Göttingen
    Carl-Ludwig-Institute of Physiology, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig)

  • Aaron DiAntonio

    (Washington University School of Medicine)

  • Stefan Hallermann

    (European Neuroscience Institute, University Medical Center Göttingen
    Carl-Ludwig-Institute of Physiology, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig)

  • Uri Ashery

    (Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University
    Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University)

  • Manfred Heckmann

    (Institute of Physiology, University of Würzburg)

  • Markus Sauer

    (University of Würzburg)

  • Robert J. Kittel

    (Institute of Physiology, University of Würzburg)

Abstract

The precise molecular architecture of synaptic active zones (AZs) gives rise to different structural and functional AZ states that fundamentally shape chemical neurotransmission. However, elucidating the nanoscopic protein arrangement at AZs is impeded by the diffraction-limited resolution of conventional light microscopy. Here we introduce new approaches to quantify endogenous protein organization at single-molecule resolution in situ with super-resolution imaging by direct stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (dSTORM). Focusing on the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ), we find that the AZ cytomatrix (CAZ) is composed of units containing ~137 Bruchpilot (Brp) proteins, three quarters of which are organized into about 15 heptameric clusters. We test for a quantitative relationship between CAZ ultrastructure and neurotransmitter release properties by engaging Drosophila mutants and electrophysiology. Our results indicate that the precise nanoscopic organization of Brp distinguishes different physiological AZ states and link functional diversification to a heretofore unrecognized neuronal gradient of the CAZ ultrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadine Ehmann & Sebastian van de Linde & Amit Alon & Dmitrij Ljaschenko & Xi Zhen Keung & Thorge Holm & Annika Rings & Aaron DiAntonio & Stefan Hallermann & Uri Ashery & Manfred Heckmann & Markus Saue, 2014. "Quantitative super-resolution imaging of Bruchpilot distinguishes active zone states," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms5650
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5650
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5650
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms5650?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eyal Rozenfeld & Nadine Ehmann & Julia E. Manoim & Robert J. Kittel & Moshe Parnas, 2023. "Homeostatic synaptic plasticity rescues neural coding reliability," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms5650. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.