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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Preparation of Synaptoneurosomes from Mouse Cortex using a Discontinuous Percoll-Sucrose Density Gradient
Published on: September 17, 2011
Piccolo, a novel 420 kDa protein associated with the presynaptic cytomatrix
C Cases-Langhoff1, B Voss, A M Garner
1Center for Molecular Neurobiology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
Abstract:
In this study, we describe a novel 420 kDa protein, called Piccolo, found at a wide variety of adult rat brain synapses. High protein levels in the cerebellum, the olfactory bulb and the hippocampus were frequently observed to be associated with asymmetric type 1 synapses. Piccolo is selectively enriched in presynaptic terminals, but is not a component of synaptic vesicles (SVs). Immunogold electron microscopy revealed that Piccolo localizes to the amorphous material among SVs at the presynaptic plasma membrane. Biochemical studies showed that it is very tightly bound to this structure. Thus, we speculate that Piccolo is a structural component of the presynaptic cytomatrix which anchors SVs to the presynaptic plasmalemma.
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