title: Monitoring Synapses Via Trans-Synaptic GFP Complementation.
abstract: Over the last years, the analysis of synaptic connectivity in the mammalian brain has been accelerated by the use of techniques combining electrophysiology, light microscopy, viral tracing, and genetic manipulations in animal models. Of particular interest are methods that aim to label synapses by tethering complementary split GFP fragments in opposing sites of the synaptic cleft. Here, I describe SynView, a method for monitoring synapse formation based on GFP complementation, and provide a detailed protocol for use in neuronal cultures from mouse hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Mahoney Institute for Neurosciences, Perelman School for Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Clinical Research Building, 415 Curie Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA. theot@mail.med.upenn.edu.
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsetsenis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D016086:Lentivirus / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019006:Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins
keywords: Neurexin; Neuroligin; Split-GFP; SynView; Synapse formation