Duration of synaptic formation in cultured neurons

Range <60 min
Organism Rat Rattus norvegicus
Reference Hopf FW, Waters J, Mehta S, Smith SJ. Stability and plasticity of developing synapses in hippocampal neuronal cultures. J Neurosci. 2002 Feb 1 22(3):775-81. p.775 left column 2nd paragraph & p.780 right column top paragraphPubMed ID11826107
Primary Source [1] Ahmari SE, Buchanan J, Smith SJ (2000) Assembly of presynaptic active zones from cytoplasmic transport packets. Nat Neurosci 3:445–451. [2] Friedman HV, Bresler T, Garner CC, Ziv NE (2000) Assembly of new individual excitatory synapses: time course and temporal order of synaptic molecule recruitment. Neuron 27:57–69.PubMed ID10769383, 10939331
Method Primary source [1] abstract:"[Investigators] used time-lapse fluorescence imaging, immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy to study hippocampal neuronal cultures transfected with a fusion construct of the presynaptic vesicle protein VAMP [Vesicle associated membrane protein] and green fluorescent protein." Primary source [2] abstract:"Time-lapse microscopy, retrospective immunohistochemistry, and cultured hippocampal neurons were used to determine the time frame of individual glutamatergic synapse assembly and the temporal order in which specific molecules accumulate at new synaptic junctions."
Comments p.775 left column 2nd paragraph:"Such information is rare because electrical methods for the study of synaptic physiology provide only very limited information about individual synapses and are difficult to apply over time scales of sufficient length to explore developmental processes. Nonetheless, several recent studies have shown that synaptic formation can occur quite rapidly (<60 min) in cultured neurons (primary sources)." p.780 right column top paragraph:"Also, several studies using cultured hippocampal neurons to examine synaptic formation have found that recruitment of synaptic components can occur rapidly (in <1 hr) (primary sources). Thus, the dynamics of formation and elimination of CNS synapses may be much more rapid than at the neuromuscular junction."
Entered by Uri M
ID 112035