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Zooming in on the (Peri)synaptic Extracellular Matrix

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Nanoscale Imaging of Synapses

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 84))

Abstract

Neurons and glial cells secrete numerous molecules that accumulate in the extracellular space and form the neural extracellular matrix (ECM). There are diverse forms of the ECM. The most conspicuous aggregates of ECM molecules, containing chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, hyaluronic acid, link proteins, and tenascin-R, are found around perisomatic GABAergic synapses on fast-spiking interneurons. However, also the perisynaptic extracellular space of glutamatergic synapses is enriched in ECM molecules such as hyaluronic acid and brevican. These ECM molecules and their receptors, the most studied of which are integrins, regulate the induction and maintenance of synaptic modifications. Recent data highlight the importance of synaptically secreted extracellular matrix molecule LGI1 in organization of synaptic machinery. Accumulated functional data point to the view that a synapse is a tetrapartite system including the pre- and postsynapse, associated astroglial terminals, and the ECM, in which there is an exchange of signals between all four components. This review is to give a short introduction to neural ECM; to summarize available electron microscopy data on expression of perisynaptic and synaptic ECM molecules and their receptors, as a reference for other super-resolution methods; and to present a protocol for STORM imaging of (peri)synaptic ECM using a commercially available super-resolution microscope (Nikon N-STORM).

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Russian Federation governmental grant No. 11.G34.31.0012 and by COST Action BM1001 “Brain Extracellular Matrix in Health and Disease.” We kindly acknowledge Nikon Instruments for N-STORM measurements performed within the activities of the Advanced Nikon Centre at IIT.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy

    Svetlana Korotchenko & Alexander Dityatev

  2. University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny, Novgorod, Russia

    Svetlana Korotchenko

  3. Department of Nanophysics, Instituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy

    Francesca Cella Zanacchi & Alberto Diaspro

  4. Laboratory for Brain Extracellular Matrix Research, University of Nizhny Novgorod, Nizhny, Novgorod, Russia

    Alexander Dityatev

  5. Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Bonn, Germany

    Alexander Dityatev

  6. Medizinische Fakultät, Otto-von-Güricke-Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Alexander Dityatev

Authors
  1. Svetlana Korotchenko
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  2. Francesca Cella Zanacchi
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  3. Alberto Diaspro
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  4. Alexander Dityatev
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

    U. Valentin Nägerl

  2. Institute of Biology at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

    Antoine Triller

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Korotchenko, S., Zanacchi, F.C., Diaspro, A., Dityatev, A. (2014). Zooming in on the (Peri)synaptic Extracellular Matrix. In: Nägerl, U., Triller, A. (eds) Nanoscale Imaging of Synapses. Neuromethods, vol 84. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9179-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9179-8_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9178-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9179-8

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