NMJ-morph reveals principal components of synaptic morphology influencing structure-function relationships at the neuromuscular junction.

ABSTRACT: The ability to form synapses is one of the fundamental properties required by the mammalian nervous system to generate network connectivity. Structural and functional diversity among synaptic populations is a key hallmark of network diversity, and yet we know comparatively little about the morphological principles that govern variability in the size, shape and strength of synapses. Using the mouse neuromuscular junction (NMJ) as an experimentally accessible model synapse, we report on the development of a robust, standardized methodology to facilitate comparative morphometric analysis of synapses ('NMJ-morph'). We used NMJ-morph to generate baseline morphological reference data for 21 separate pre- and post-synaptic variables from 2160 individual NMJs belonging to nine anatomically distinc

SUBMITTER: Jones RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5204123 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature