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Widespread Distribution of Synaptophysin, a Synaptic Vesicle Glycoprotein, in Growing Neurites and Growth Cones
Author(s) -
Phelan Pauline,
GordonWeeks Phillip R.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.1992.tb00143.x
Subject(s) - synaptophysin , synaptic vesicle , neurite , synaptogenesis , biology , growth cone , neuroscience , microbiology and biotechnology , exocytosis , neurotransmitter , vesicle , axon , central nervous system , in vitro , secretion , immunology , endocrinology , immunohistochemistry , biochemistry , membrane
Synaptophysin, a 38‐kD glycoprotein, is one of the most abundant of the integral membrane proteins of small synaptic vesicles. The protein is widely distributed at synapses throughout the nervous system, where it is believed to be involved in the exocytosis of stored neurotransmitter. We show here that synaptophysin is also widely expressed in growing neurites and growth cones both in vitro and in vivo. In dissociated rat cerebral cortical cultures anti‐synaptophysin antiserum (G‐95) stains growth cones punctately as soon as they emerge from the cell body. In early cultures all neurites are immunoreactive. Later, synaptophysin is redistributed to become concentrated in axonal varicosities. In developing rat embryos, synaptophysin is expressed in the growing axons of, for instance, the spinal commissural interneurons and the parallel fibres of the cerebellar granule cells long before these neurons have established synaptic connections. These observations suggest that synaptic vesicle proteins like synaptophysin are functionally important in neuronal development.