Abstract
Organization and maintenance of neurotransmitter receptor assemblies, key for efficient synaptic transmission, rely on an adequate balance of synthesis, delivery to and removal from the cell membrane. We are studying the supramolecular organization, dynamics and trafficking of neuronal and muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) using a combination of ensemble averaging methods and single-molecule experimental techniques. STED and GSDIM microscopies (two forms of nanoscopy) of fixed specimens of a clonal cell line expressing muscle-type AChR disclosed diffraction barrier-breaking light microscopy images of ∼55 nm cell-surface particles (“nanoclusters”) which increase in size upon ligation. Live cell imaging has enabled the visualization of particles in real time, and single-particle tracking together with cluster analysis reveals the motional regimes and modes or supramolecular assembly of nAChR nanoclusters. The neutral lipid cholesterol and cortical actin dynamics act synergically to modulate the supramolecular organization and dynamics of nAChRs at the cell surface.Research quoted here was supported by grant PICT 2011-0604 from the Argentinian Ministry for Science, Technology and Productive Innovation to F.J.B.
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