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Free keywords:
Neurons
Synapses
Electron microscopy
Cryo-electron tomography
electron tomography
molecular architecture
light-microscopy
hippocampal
organization
synapses
reveals
cells
microtubules
complexes
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Biophysics
Cell Biology
Abstract:
Cryo-electron tomography (Cryo-ET) provides unique opportunities to image cellular components at high resolution in their native state and environment. While many different cell types were investigated by cryo-ET, here we review application to neurons. We show that neurons are a versatile system that can be used to investigate general cellular components such as the cytoskeleton and membrane-bound organelles, in addition to neuron specific processes such as synaptic transmission. Furthermore, the synapse provides a rich environment for the development of cryo-ET image processing tools suitable to elucidate the functional and spatial organization of compositionally and morphologically heterogeneous macromolecular complexes involved in biochemical signaling cascades, within their native, crowded cellular environments.
