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Updated: Jul 12, 2025
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An Optical Assay for Synaptic Vesicle Recycling in Cultured Neurons Overexpressing Presynaptic Proteins
Published on: June 26, 2018
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Synapsin condensation controls synaptic vesicle sequestering and dynamics
Christian Hoffmann1, Jakob Rentsch2, Taka A Tsunoyama3
1Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 10117, Berlin, Germany.
Nature Communications
|October 23, 2023
Summary
Synaptic vesicles (SVs) are confined and motile at synapses due to the liquid-like condensates formed by SVs and synapsin 1. This interaction ensures reliable SV behavior for neuronal transmission.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Neuronal transmission depends on regulated neurotransmitter release from synaptic vesicles (SVs).
- SV confinement and mobility at synaptic boutons are crucial for rapid neurotransmitter release but poorly understood.
- Synapsin 1 is a highly abundant synaptic protein involved in SV regulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the mechanism underlying synaptic vesicle confinement and motility.
- To investigate the role of synapsin 1 in organizing synaptic vesicles within boutons.
Main Methods:
- Ultrafast single-molecule tracking (SMT) in reconstituted SV systems and living neurons.
- Two-color SMT and super-resolution imaging in living axons.
- Experiments using synapsin triple knock-out animals.
Main Results:
- Synaptic vesicles and synapsin 1 form liquid-like condensates.
- Synapsin 1 slows its own movement within these condensates, indicating increased packing.
- Synapsin 1 drives SV accumulation in boutons and restores native SV motility patterns, even with a short fragment.
Conclusions:
- Synapsin 1 condensation is sufficient to ensure both confinement and motility of synaptic vesicles.
- This process enables the formation of mesoscale domains of SVs at synapses in vivo.
- Synapsin 1 plays a critical role in organizing SVs for efficient neuronal signaling.
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