Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Presynaptically Silent Synapses Studied with Light Microscopy
Published on: January 4, 2010
[Molecular biology of the inhibitory synapse]
1Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie, Universität Heidelberg.
Abstract:
The amino acids glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid are the major inhibitory neurotransmitter substances in the central nervous system of all vertebrates. Due to an increase of chloride ion conductance of the postsynaptic membrane these neurotransmitters inhibit the excitability of the nerve cell. During the last years the receptor proteins mediating the action of glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid were characterized in more detail by biochemical and molecular biology techniques. The present data show that all neurotransmitter receptors which alter the ion permeability of the postsynaptic membrane are members of a large protein family which has evolved from a common precursor.
More Related Videos
07:51Inhibitory Synapse Formation in a Co-culture Model Incorporating GABAergic Medium Spiny Neurons and HEK293 Cells Stably Expressing GABAA Receptors
Published on: November 14, 2014
09:33An Optical Assay for Synaptic Vesicle Recycling in Cultured Neurons Overexpressing Presynaptic Proteins
Published on: June 26, 2018
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...
Excitatory and Inhibitory Effects of Neurotransmitters
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...
Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptor: Gating Mechanism
Neurochemical Transmission: Sites of Drug Action
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...