斑马鱼
内吞作用
神经肌肉接头
突触小泡
神经科学
活体细胞成像
神经传递
突触
突触囊泡循环
生物
细胞生物学
小泡
生物化学
细胞
基因
膜
受体
作者
Yoshihiro Egashira,Fumihito Ono
摘要
Neuronal communication is mediated by synaptic transmission, which depends primarily on the release of neurotransmitters stored in synaptic vesicles (SVs) in response to an action potential (AP). Since SVs are recycled locally at the presynaptic terminal, coordination of SV exocytosis and endocytosis is important for sustained synaptic transmission. A pH-sensitive green fluorescent protein, called pHluorin, provides a powerful tool to monitor SV exo/endocytosis by targeting it to the SV lumen. However, tracking AP-driven SV recycling with the pHluorin-based probes is still largely limited to in vitro culture preparations because the introduction of genetically encoded probes and subsequent optical imaging is technically challenging in general for in vivo animal models or tissue preparations. Zebrafish is a model system offering valuable features, including ease of genetic manipulation, optical clarity, and rapid external development. We recently generated a transgenic zebrafish that highly expresses a pHluorin-labeled probe at motor neuron terminals and developed a protocol to monitor AP-driven SV exo/endocytosis at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), a well-established synapse model that forms in vivo. In this article, we show how to prepare larval zebrafish NMJ preparation suitable for pHluorin imaging. We also show that the preparation allows time-lapse imaging under conventional upright epifluorescence microscope, providing a cost-effective platform for analyzing NMJ function.
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