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

Abstract

AbstractNanoscopic imaging techniques provide a powerful set of tools for static and dynamic fluorescence microscopy below the diffraction limit of light. Among these super-resolution techniques, photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM) and stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) are based on the detection of single fluorophores, whose signals are localized with great precision. The strength of single-molecule approaches lies in their high localization accuracy and their molecular specificity and in the development of multicolor approaches, three-dimensional imaging, and the quantification of absolute molecule numbers. These capabilities make PALM and STORM imaging ideally suited to visualize the ultrastructures of synapses, to track the movements of synaptic components, and to quantify the molecular plasticity at synapses.Key wordsActive zone (AZ)Dendritic spineGluA1 (AMPA receptor subunit GluR1)GluN2B (NMDA receptor subunit NR2B)Photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM)Postsynaptic density (PSD)Stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM)