Nanoscale Imaging of Synapses

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Nanoscale Imaging of Protein Molecules at the Postsynaptic Density

   • Xiaobing Chen, Christine Winters, Rita Azzam, Alioscka A. Sousa, Richard D. Leapman, Thomas S. Reese

   Pages 1-21

3. Electron Tomography for the Study of Synaptic Ultrastructure in Fixed Brain Sections

   • Alain C. Burette, Richard J. Weinberg

   Pages 23-41

4. Flash-and-Freeze Electron Microscopy: Coupling Optogenetics with High-Pressure Freezing

   • Shigeki Watanabe, M. Wayne Davis, Erik M. Jorgensen

   Pages 43-57

5. Investigating AMPA Receptor Diffusion and Nanoscale Organization at Synapses with High-Density Single-Molecule Tracking Methods

   • Audrey Constals, Eric Hosy, Daniel Choquet

   Pages 59-74

6. Visualizing the Ultrastructures and Dynamics of Synapses by Single-Molecule Nanoscopy

   • Christian G. Specht, Ignacio Izeddin, Maxime Dahan

   Pages 75-91

7. Live-Cell PALM of Intracellular Proteins in Neurons

   • Nicholas A. Frost, Harold D. MacGillavry, Hsiangmin E. Lu, Thomas A. Blanpied

   Pages 93-123

8. Monitoring Nanoscale Mobility of Small Molecules in Organized Brain Tissue with Time-Resolved Fluorescence Anisotropy Imaging

   • Kaiyu Zheng, James A. Levitt, Klaus Suhling, Dmitri A. Rusakov

   Pages 125-143

9. Imaging Signaling Transduction in Single Dendritic Spines

   • Nathan Hedrick, Ryohei Yasuda

   Pages 145-159

10. Imaging-Based Measures of Synaptic Tenacity

    • Noam E. Ziv

    Pages 161-185

11. Zooming in on the (Peri)synaptic Extracellular Matrix

    • Svetlana Korotchenko, Francesca Cella Zanacchi, Alberto Diaspro, Alexander Dityatev

    Pages 187-203

12. Two-Photon Excitation STED Microscopy for Imaging Synapses and Glia in Acute Brain Slices

    • Philipp Bethge, U. Valentin Nägerl

    Pages 205-220

13. Back Matter

    Pages 221-231

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Synapses underlie rapid and flexible neural communication in the brain and they hold the key to understanding higher brain functions in health and disease. Because they are very small and highly dynamic, it is very difficult to study them with traditional techniques. Fortunately, recent ground-breaking advances in optical microscopy (e.g. STED, PALM, STORM, SIM) have greatly improved our ability to image living synapses at the nanoscale, even down to the level of single molecules. The proposed volume brings together leading researchers to review these exciting new techniques and their application in neurobiological research. It will explain and discuss the basic principles behind the various superresolution modalities, how they are implemented, what their scope and limitations are etc. In addition, several key research discoveries on synapses enabled by these novel approaches will be highlighted.

• live-cell fluorescence microsopy
• nanoscopy
• neurons and glia
• physiology
• synapses

• Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

  U. Valentin Nägerl

• Institute of Biology at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

  Antoine Triller

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