TY  - JOUR
AU  - Dufour, A.
AU  - Rollenhagen, A.
AU  - Sätzler, K.
AU  - Lübke, Joachim
TI  - Development of Synaptic Boutons in Layer 4 of the Barrel Field of the Rat Somatosensory Cortex: A Quantitative Analysis
JO  - Cerebral cortex
VL  - 26
IS  - 2
SN  - 1460-2199
CY  - Oxford
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
M1  - FZJ-2015-07899
SP  - 838-854
PY  - 2016
AB  - Understanding the structural and functional mechanisms underlying the development of individual brain microcircuits is critical for elucidating their computational properties. As synapses are the key structures defining a given microcircuit, it is imperative to investigate their development and precise structural features. Here, synapses in cortical layer 4 were analyzed throughout the first postnatal month using high-end electron microscopy to generate realistic quantitative 3D models. Besides their overall geometry, the size of active zones and the pools of synaptic vesicles were analyzed. At postnatal day 2 only a few shaft synapses were found, but spine synapses steadily increased with ongoing corticogenesis. From postnatal day 2 to 30 synaptic boutons significantly decreased in size whereas that of active zones remained nearly unchanged despite a reshaping. During the first 2 weeks of postnatal development, a rearrangement of synaptic vesicles from a loose distribution toward a densely packed organization close to the presynaptic density was observed, accompanied by the formation of, first a putative readily releasable pool and later a recycling and reserve pool. The quantitative 3D reconstructions of synapses will enable the comparison of structural and functional aspects of signal transduction thus leading to a better understanding of networks in the developing neocortex.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000371522500031
C6  - pmid:26574502
DO  - DOI:10.1093/cercor/bhv270
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/280153
ER  -