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Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Two-photon Calcium Imaging in Neuronal Dendrites in Brain Slices
Published on: March 15, 2018
The calcium sensor synaptotagmin 1 is expressed and regulated in hippocampal postsynaptic spines
Suleman Hussain1, Daniel Lawer Egbenya1, Yi-Chen Lai2
1Division of Anatomy, Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
Synaptotagmin 1 is a presynaptic calcium sensor, regulating SNARE-mediated vesicle exocytosis of transmitter. Increasing evidence indicate roles of SNARE proteins in postsynaptic glutamate receptor trafficking. However, a possible postsynaptic expression of synaptotagmin 1 has not been demonstrated previously. Here, we used postembedding immunogold electron microscopy to determine the subsynaptic localization of synaptotagmin 1 in rat hippocampal CA1 Schaffer collateral synapses. We report for the first time that synaptotagmin 1 is present in rat hippocampal postsynaptic spines, both on cytoplasmic vesicles and at the postsynaptic density. We further investigated whether postsynaptic synaptotagmin 1 is regulated during synaptic plasticity. In a rat model of chronic temporal lobe epilepsy, we found that presynaptic and postsynaptic concentrations of the protein are reduced compared to control animals. This downregulation may possibly be an adaptive measure to decrease both presynaptic and postsynaptic calcium sensitivity in excitotoxic conditions.
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