Distribution of synaptic vesicle proteins within single retinotectal axons of Xenopus tadpoles

Pinches, E. M., Cline, H. T. (June 1998) Distribution of synaptic vesicle proteins within single retinotectal axons of Xenopus tadpoles. Journal of Neurobiology, 35 (4). pp. 426-34. ISSN 0022-3034 (Print)

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9624623
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-4695(19980615)35:4<426::AID-NEU8>3.0.CO;2-0

Abstract

In the developing retinotectal projection, retinal axon arbor structure changes rapidly within the target tectal neuropil at stages when the visual system functions to process visual information. In vivo imaging of single retinotectal axon arbors shows that up to 50% of the arbor branch length can be restructured within 8 h and short branchtips have average lifetimes of 10 min. To determine if presynaptic sites are restricted to the relatively stable part of the arbor or if they are also located on the more dynamic portions of the arbor, punctate staining of synaptic vesicle proteins (SVP) synapsin 1 and synaptophysin was mapped within individual retinal axons using double-label confocal immunocytochemistry. We report that SVP puncta were distributed throughout the retinotectal axon arbor. Notably, short branchtips, which are known to be extremely dynamic, contain the presynaptic machinery necessary for synaptic transmission. These data support a model in which activity-dependent mechanisms can influence presynaptic axon arbor morphology by modifying the rate of dynamic rearrangements of axonal branchtips.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: Animals Axons/ metabolism Larva/metabolism Nerve Tissue Proteins/ metabolism Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Retina/ physiology Superior Colliculus/ physiology Synapsins/metabolism Synaptic Vesicles/ metabolism Synaptophysin/metabolism Tissue Distribution Xenopus laevis/growth & development/ metabolism
Subjects: organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > axon > axon arbors
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > retina
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > cell types and functions > cell functions > synaptic transmission
organism description > animal > Frog > xenopus
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Cline lab
Depositing User: Kathleen Darby
Date: 15 June 1998
Date Deposited: 01 May 2014 14:34
Last Modified: 01 May 2014 14:34
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/29922

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