Opera Medica et Physiologica

A Methodology of Calcium Dynamics Registration in Presynaptic Terminals of Neurons In Situ

Author Affiliations

Popov A.V.1,2 *, Tiurykova O.V.1,3

 

1 - UNN, 603950, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Gagarin Avenue, 23.

2 - IBCh RAS, 117198, Russia, Moscow, st. Miklouho-Maclay, 16/10, k.7.

3 - UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG UK

Corresponding author: 

Popov A.V. (kto39ecb@list.ru)

Abstract: 

For many decades synaptic circuits have been associated solely with cell-cell neuronal connections represented by the presynaptic terminal, which releases a neurotransmitter, and the postsynaptic neuronal specialization, a site where the neurotransmitter can activate synaptic receptors. However, due to technical limitations these studies usually were linked only to the postsynaptic site. For a long while, the widespread techniques that rapidly advanced neurophysiology have been little used in understanding the way how Ca2+-dependent release of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate from neuronal axons can be measured directly. Only with the advance of live cell imaging, it became possible to detect internal Ca2+ dynamics in presynaptic boutons with the high temporal resolution.