Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 6, 2026

Measuring Synaptic Vesicle Endocytosis in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons
Published on: September 4, 2017
X-ray solution structure of the native neuronal porosome-synaptic vesicle complex: Implication in neurotransmitter
Ladislau C Kovari1, Joseph S Brunzelle, Kenneth T Lewis
1Wayne State University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Detroit, MI, USA.
Abstract:
Nanoportals at the cell plasma membrane called porosomes, mediate secretion from cells. In neurons porosomes are 15 nm cup-shaped lipoprotein structure composed of nearly 40 proteins. The size and complexity of the porosome has precluded determination of its atomic structure. Here we report at nanometer resolution the native 3D structure of the neuronal porosome-synaptic vesicle complex within isolated nerve terminals using small-angle X-ray solution scattering. In addition to furthering our understanding of the porosome structure, results from the study suggests the molecular mechanism involved in neurotransmitter release at the nerve terminal.
Related Concept Videos
Fusion of Secretory Vesicles with the Plasma Membrane
In 1993, Jim Rothman proposed that the antiparallel pairing of vesicular and transmembrane SNAREs, or...
Structure of Porins
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...
Overview of Secretory Vesicles
Various proteins regulate the aggregation of molecules inside the secretory vesicles. Chromogranins...
Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action

