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Novel Approaches for Single Molecule Activation and Detection pp 203–219Cite as

Probing the Lateral Diffusion of Individual Neurotransmitter Receptors

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Part of the book series: Advances in Atom and Single Molecule Machines ((AASMM))

Abstract

Synaptic transmission is a highly dynamic and regulated process in which electrical information is transferred between two neurons by means of a chemical transmitter that diffuses from the presynaptic element to reach, bind, and activate the neurotransmitter receptors located at postsynaptic side. Traditionally, postsynaptic receptors have been considered fixed in front of the releasing site, but over the last decade, compelling evidence has shown that they diffuse in the plane of the neuronal membrane, thus adding a further level of complexity to synaptic neurotransmission. The development of new technologies that allow a close inspection of the diffusive properties of receptors at synapses have revealed that the receptors dynamics is not only part of a “constitutive recycling” but also is responsible for the fast tuning of the receptor number at synapses both in basal conditions and in response to external stimuli, being therefore a major determinant of synaptic plasticity. In this section, we will review the techniques used to study the lateral mobility of individual receptors and the recent advances in the comprehension of the role of receptor diffusion in neuronal synaptic computation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy

    Enrica Maria Petrini & Andrea Barberis

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  1. Enrica Maria Petrini
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  2. Andrea Barberis
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Correspondence to Andrea Barberis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology, University of Genoa The Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy

    Fabio Benfenati

  2. Nanostructures Department, The Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy

    Enzo Di Fabrizio

  3. Neuroscience Area, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi, Trieste, Italy

    Vincent Torre

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Petrini, E.M., Barberis, A. (2014). Probing the Lateral Diffusion of Individual Neurotransmitter Receptors. In: Benfenati, F., Di Fabrizio, E., Torre, V. (eds) Novel Approaches for Single Molecule Activation and Detection. Advances in Atom and Single Molecule Machines. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-43367-6_11

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