Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Preparation of Aplysia Sensory-motor Neuronal Cell Cultures
Published on: June 8, 2009
A presynaptic complex in the giant synapse of the squid
Abstract:
A presynaptic complex consisting of thin lamellae associated with vesicles was found frequently in presynaptic terminals of the squid giant synapse. The lamellae, made of osmiophilic material, had an average length and width of about 10 mum and a thickness of 30 nm; they were of rectangular shape. While most frequent in the axoplasm of the most distal, and largest, terminal of the presynaptic giant axon, the lamellae were found also in smaller terminal branches of this fibre; They have not been observed in the proximal parts of the presynaptic or postsynaptic giant axons. Vesicles the size of synaptic vesicles surrounded the sides of the lamellae. The presynaptic complex resembles the synaptic ribbons in sensory cells.
More Related Videos
08:38Vibrodissociation of Neurons from Rodent Brain Slices to Study Synaptic Transmission and Image Presynaptic Terminals
Published on: May 25, 2011
12:01Acute Dissociation of Lamprey Reticulospinal Axons to Enable Recording from the Release Face Membrane of Individual Functional Presynaptic Terminals
Published on: October 1, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Action Potentials
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
Action Potential
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...
Action Potential
Membrane potential in neurons
Neurons typically have a resting membrane potential of about -70 millivolts (mV). When they receive...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...