Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • In Brief
  • Published:

Synaptic plasticity

Stacking up synaptic structure

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 17, page 604 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

The proximity of neurotransmitter-release sites to the corresponding postsynaptic receptors influences synaptic strength and plasticity, but the precise alignment between the two is poorly elucidated. Here, the density of the active-zone proteins Rab3-interacting molecule 1 and 2 (RIM1/2) at synapses between cultured hippocampal neurons was found to be aligned with areas of increased expression of postsynaptic density (PSD) proteins (PSD95 and GluA2 AMPA receptor subunit), forming a trans-synaptic 'nanocolumn'. Induction of long-term potentiation resulted in increased PSD95 density in postsynaptic nanoclusters, suggesting that reorganization of these nanocolumns plays a part in synaptic plasticity.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Tang, A.-H. et al. A trans-synaptic nanocolumn aligns neurotransmitter release to receptors. Nature http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature19058 (2016)

Download references

Authors
  1. Sian Lewis
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lewis, S. Stacking up synaptic structure. Nat Rev Neurosci 17, 604 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.119

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2016.119

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing