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PubMed2000

A custom-made two-photon microscope and deconvolution system.

We describe in detail a custom-built two-photon microscope based on a modified confocal scanhead (Olympus Fluoview) and mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser (Coherent Mira 900). This system has internal detectors as well as external whole-field detection and an electrooptical modulator for blanking the beam on flyback and effecting fast changes in excitation intensity. This microscope can be used in deep, scattering samples for quantitative measurements with a wide range of fluorophores (GFP, fura, calcium green, calcium orange, fluo-3, DiI, DiO, fluorescein, rhodamine), for fluorescent photobleaching recovery and for uncaging. Images obtained with this system can be deconvolved with the Estimation Maximization algorithm using the program XCOSM (freeware available at: http://www.ibc.wustl.edu/bcl/ xcosm/).

Animals↗

PubMed1998

A third member of the synapsin gene family.

Synapsins are a family of neuron-specific synaptic vesicle-associated phosphoproteins that have been implicated in synaptogenesis and in the modulation of neurotransmitter release. In mammals, distinct genes for synapsins I and II have been identified, each of which gives rise to two alternatively spliced isoforms. We have now cloned and characterized a third member of the synapsin gene family, synapsin III, from human DNA. Synapsin III gives rise to at least one protein isoform, designated synapsin IIIa, in several mammalian species. Synapsin IIIa is associated with synaptic vesicles, and its expression appears to be neuron-specific. The primary structure of synapsin IIIa conforms to the domain model previously described for the synapsin family, with domains A, C, and E exhibiting the highest degree of conservation. Synapsin IIIa contains a novel domain, termed domain J, located between domains C and E. The similarities among synapsins I, II, and III in domain organization, neuron-specific expression, and subcellular localization suggest a possible role for synapsin III in the regulation of neurotransmitter release and synaptogenesis. The human synapsin III gene is located on chromosome 22q12-13, which has been identified as a possible schizophrenia susceptibility locus. On the basis of this localization and the well established neurobiological roles of the synapsins, synapsin III represents a candidate gene for schizophrenia.

Alternative Splicing↗