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The Synaptosome

  • Chapter
Handbook of Neurochemistry

Abstract

When brain tissue is homogenized in iso-osmotic aqueous sucrose under conditions of moderate shear force, the clublike central presynaptic nerve terminals are torn away from their axons and seal up to form detached particles(1–3) to which the name synaptosomes has been given.(4) These particles retain the morphological features and, as far as we know, the chemical composition (including the transmitter content) of the intact presynaptic terminal. They can be separated from other subcellular particles by conventional fractionation techniques and provide a new type of in vitro preparation for the study of many aspects of neuronal function. Synaptosome preparations have been used for investigations of the synthesis, storage, and release of transmitter substances and the effect of drugs and toxins on such processes; as starting material for the attempted identification of new transmitters(5); for sampling terminal axoplasm in studies of axonal flow(6); and for studying the permeability properties of the unmyelinated neuronal plasma membrane(7) and the energy metabolism of neuronal cytoplasm.(8)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England

    V. P. Whittaker

  2. New York State Institute for Basic Research in Mental Retardation, New York, New York, USA

    V. P. Whittaker

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  1. V. P. Whittaker
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Research Institute for Neurochemistry and Drug Addiction, Ward’s Island, New York, New York, USA

    Abel Lajtha

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Whittaker, V.P. (1969). The Synaptosome. In: Lajtha, A. (eds) Handbook of Neurochemistry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7321-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7321-4_14

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-7301-6

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