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A correlative workflow streamlines synaptic imaging by cryo-electron tomography

Do, T. T.; Siegert, A.; Domart, F.; Hahn, F.; Zeising, C.; Muth, S. M.; Pape, C.; Kusch, K.; Dresbach, T.; Rizzoli, S.; Petrovic, A.; Fernandez-Busnadiego, R.

2025-03-03 neuroscience
10.1101/2025.03.01.640558 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Despite decades of intense research, the molecular organization of the synapse is not well understood. To address this issue, we sought to develop a method for systematic imaging of synapses by cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), a technology capable of mapping cellular architecture at molecular resolution. Thinning of cellular samples by cryo-focused ion beam milling is a prerequisite for high-quality cryo-ET imaging, but this process needs to be guided to the structures of interest. To allow robust synaptic targeting, we established a correlative cryo-light/electron microscopy approach by which synapses are fluorescently labeled in a minimally invasive manner, using a synthetic binder of the postsynaptic scaffold PSD-95 and antibodies against the presynaptic protein Synaptotagmin-1. Cryo-ET imaging at sites of colocalization consistently revealed excitatory synapses. Our method allows structural studies of synaptic protein complexes in situ, facilitating investigations of the molecular architecture of synapses.

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