Thanks to newly-developed "super-resolution" microscopy techniques, a group of French neuroscientists have discovered a remarkable world of complexity on a tiny scale. Writing in the Journal of Neuroscience, Deepak Nair colleagues report that: Super-Resolution Imaging Reveals That AMPA Receptors Inside Synapses Are Dynamically Organized in Nanodomains Regulated by PSD95 Neurons communicate with each other via chemical synapses. Here, two cells almost touch each other, and one of them can release a messenger molecule (neurotransmitter) which activates proteins (receptors) on the receiving (postsynaptic) neuron, thus conveying information. Here's part of a single cell: the synapses are where the little 'spines' or 'bulbs' meet those present on another cell (not pictured).
Until now, it's been believed that within a synapse, receptors are just randomly distributed over the postsynaptic cell membrane. However, Nair et al's work reveals an unsuspected level of organization. It turns out that receptors - or at least AMPA receptors, ...
