Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Presynapse Formation Assay Using Presynapse Organizer Beads and “Neuron Ball” Culture
Published on: August 2, 2019
Synapse formation and remodeling
1Institute of Neuroscience and State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China. zgluo@ion.ac.cn.
Abstract:
Synapses are specialized structures that mediate information flow between neurons and target cells, and thus are the basis for neuronal system to execute various functions, including learning and memory. There are around 10(11) neurons in the human brain, with each neuron receiving thousands of synaptic inputs, either excitatory or inhibitory. A synapse is an asymmetric structure that is composed of pre-synaptic axon terminals, synaptic cleft, and postsynaptic compartments. Synapse formation involves a number of cell adhesion molecules, extracellular factors, and intracellular signaling or structural proteins. After the establishment of synaptic connections, synapses undergo structural or functional changes, known as synaptic plasticity which is believed to be regulated by neuronal activity and a variety of secreted factors. This review summarizes recent progress in the field of synapse development, with particular emphasis on the work carried out in China during the past 10 years (1999-2009).
Related Concept Videos
The Synapse
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...
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...
Neuroplasticity
Overview of Synapses
Synaptic Signaling
Most synapses are chemical, meaning an electrical impulse or action potential spurs the release of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. The neuron sending the signal is called the presynaptic neuron, and the neuron receiving the signal is the postsynaptic neuron.
The presynaptic neuron fires an action potential that...

