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Synaptosomes and Metamodulation of Receptors

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Synaptic Vesicles

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2417))

Abstract

Synaptosomes are re-sealed pinched off nerve terminals that maintain all the main structural and functional features of the original structures and that are appropriate to study presynaptic events. Because of the discovery of new structural and molecular events that dictate the efficiency of transmitter release and of its receptor-mediated control in the central nervous system, the interest in this tissue preparation is continuously renewing. Most of these events have been already discussed in previous reviews, but few of them were not and deserve some comments since they could suggest new functional and possibly therapeutic considerations. Among them, the “metamodulation” of receptors represents an emerging aspect that dramatically increased the complexity of the presynaptic compartment, adding new insights to the role of presynaptic receptors as modulators of chemical synapses. Deciphering the mechanism of presynaptic metamodulation would permit indirect approaches to control the activity of presynaptic release-regulating receptors that are currently orphans of direct ligands/modulators, paving the road for the proposal of new therapeutic approaches for central neurological diseases.

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Acknowledgments

This article is dedicated to all our colleagues and friends that starting from the 1980s (40 years ago, when the superfusion technique was first introduced at the Institute of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Genova) have carried out their studies using this methodological approach contributing to improve the knowledge of the presynaptic events of the chemical transmission in the central nervous system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, School of medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and CEBR, University of Genova, Genova, Italy

    Anna Pittaluga & Mario Marchi

  2. IRCCS San Martino Hospital, Genova, Italy

    Anna Pittaluga

Authors
  1. Anna Pittaluga
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  2. Mario Marchi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Pittaluga .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Erlangen, Bayern, Germany

    Jana Dahlmanns

  2. Institute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Marc Dahlmanns

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Pittaluga, A., Marchi, M. (2022). Synaptosomes and Metamodulation of Receptors. In: Dahlmanns, J., Dahlmanns, M. (eds) Synaptic Vesicles. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2417. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1916-2_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1916-2_8

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1915-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1916-2

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