Real-time imaging of single synaptic vesicles in live neurons

Abstract

Recent advances in fluorescence microscopy have provided researchers with powerful new tools to visualize cellular processes occurring in real time, giving researchers an unprecedented opportunity to address many biological questions that were previously inaccessible. With respect to neurobiology, these real-time imaging techniques have deepened our understanding of molecular and cellular processes, including the movement and dynamics of single proteins and organelles in living cells. In this review, we summarize recent advances in the field of real-time imaging of single synaptic vesicles in live neurons.

Keywords

single synaptic vesicle / real-time imaging / exocytosis / tracking

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Curtis Barrett and Dr. Sunghoe Chang for critically reading the manuscript and for providing constructive comments.

The authors declare no competing interest.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg