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Antiserum specific for motor nerve terminals in skeletal muscle

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Abstract

OUR understanding of synaptic function and development has benefited from the availability of neurotoxins that bind specifically to acetylcholine receptors and acetylcholine esterase at the neuromuscular junction1–4. It would be of additional value to have molecular probes for other components of this accessible and well-studied synapse, such as the nerve terminal. Antibodies to the synaptic vesicles that are concentrated in the motor nerve terminal would constitute one such marker; unfortunately, these vesicles are present in such small amounts that their purification has not yet been achieved. It is, however, possible to purify cholinergic synaptic vesicles from the electric organ of the elasmobranchs, Narcine brasiliensis5 and Torpedo marmorata6, and to obtain antisera to them (S.S.C. and R.B.K., in preparation). We report here that antibodies in anti-Narcine vesicle sera bind specifically to motor nerve terminals in skeletal muscle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Physiology and Biochemistry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 94143

    JOSHUA R. SANES, STEVEN S. CARLSON, RANDALL J. VON WEDEL & REGIS B. KELLY

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  1. JOSHUA R. SANES
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  2. STEVEN S. CARLSON
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  3. RANDALL J. VON WEDEL
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  4. REGIS B. KELLY
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SANES, J., CARLSON, S., VON WEDEL, R. et al. Antiserum specific for motor nerve terminals in skeletal muscle. Nature 280, 403–404 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/280403a0

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