Lipid bilayer membrane-triggered presynaptic vesicle assembly.
The formation of functional synapses on artificial substrates is a very important step in the development of engineered in vitro neural networks. Spherical supported bilayer lipid membranes (SS-BLMs) are used here as a novel substrate to demonstrate presynaptic vesicle accumulation at an in vitro synaptic junction. Confocal fluorescence microscopy, cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments have been used to characterize the SS-BLMs. Conventional immunocytochemistry combined with confocal fluorescence microscopy was used to observe the formation of presynaptic vesicles at the neuron-SS-BLM contacts. These results indicate that lipid phases may play a role in the observed phenomenon, in addition to the chemical and electrostatic interactions between the neurons and SS-BLMs. The biocompatibility of lipid bilayers along with their membrane tunability makes the suggested approach a useful "toolkit" for many neuroengineering applications including artificial synapse formation and synaptogenesis in vivo.
Department of Chemistry, McGill University, 801 Sherbrooke Street West, H3A 2K6 Montreal, Canada.
Gopakumar
G
Gopalakrishnan
Peter
P
Thostrup
Isabelle
I
Rouiller
Anna Lisa
AL
Lucido
Wiam
W
Belkaïd
David R
DR
Colman
R Bruce
RB
Lennox
D000818:Animals; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D020285:Cryoelectron Microscopy; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D053758:Nanoparticles; D051381:Rats; D017661:Receptors, Presynaptic / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000187:drug effects*
D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008055:Lipids; D017661:Receptors, Presynaptic