Advances in the labelling and selective manipulation of synapses

Synapses are highly specialized neuronal structures that are essential for neurotransmission, and they are dynamically regulated throughout the lifetime. Although accumulating evidence indicates that these structures are crucial for information processing and storage in the brain, their precise role...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature reviews. Neuroscience 2024-10, Vol.25 (10), p.668-687
Main Authors: Timalsina, Binod, Lee, Sangkyu, Kaang, Bong-Kiun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/2597/2599
631/378/548
631/378/87
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Animals
Behavioral Sciences
Biological Techniques
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain research
Cytomegalovirus
Functional anatomy
Gene expression
Genetic engineering
Humans
Information processing
Labeling
Ligands
Memory
Neurobiology
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Neurosciences
Neurotransmission
Proteins
Review Article
Staining and Labeling - methods
Structure-function relationships
Synapses
Synapses - physiology
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
Transcription factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Synapses are highly specialized neuronal structures that are essential for neurotransmission, and they are dynamically regulated throughout the lifetime. Although accumulating evidence indicates that these structures are crucial for information processing and storage in the brain, their precise roles beyond neurotransmission are yet to be fully appreciated. Genetically encoded fluorescent tools have deepened our understanding of synaptic structure and function, but developing an ideal methodology to selectively visualize, label and manipulate synapses remains challenging. Here, we provide an overview of currently available synapse labelling techniques and describe their extension to enable synapse manipulation. We categorize these approaches on the basis of their conceptual bases and target molecules, compare their advantages and limitations and propose potential modifications to improve their effectiveness. These methods have broad utility, particularly for investigating mechanisms of synaptic function and synaptopathy. An array of genetically encoded tools are now available to label and manipulate synapses in different experimental species. Kaang and colleagues provide an overview of these techniques, highlighting their advantages, disadvantages and utility for investigating synaptic function.
ISSN:1471-003X
1471-0048
1471-0048
1469-3178
DOI:10.1038/s41583-024-00851-9