Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gan, Wen-Biao
• Bishop, Derron L
• Turney, Stephen G
• Lichtman, Jeff W

Titel

Vital imaging and ultrastructural analysis of individual axon terminals labeled by iontophoretic application of lipophilic dye

Ist Teil von

• Journal of neuroscience methods, 1999-10, Vol.93 (1), p.13-20

Ort / Verlag

Amsterdam: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

1999

Quelle

EZB-NALI5-00465 Elsevier Archive NL

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We describe a method for in vivo confocal fluorescence imaging of synaptic terminals and subsequent electron microscopic reconstructions of the same terminals. By iontophoretically applying lipophilic dye to nerve terminals at a single neuromuscular junction with a sharp microelectrode in living neonatal mice, we were able to quickly label other synaptic terminals of the same motor unit. This vital labeling technique allows the same synapses to be imaged in living animals for several days. By using two dyes applied to separate junctions we could visualize competing axons converging at the same site. We also show that similar approaches can be used to study synaptic inputs to neurons. Following photoconversion, the dye labeled axons and synapses were easily identified and distinguished from unlabeled synapses of other axons ultrastructurally. This new labeling technique thus provides a useful means to study reorganization of synaptic structure at high temporal and spatial resolution.