The neuronal membrane.

Calcium channels in the neuronal membrane.

Neuronal fusion pore assembly requires membrane cholesterol.

Cholesterol has been proposed to play a critical role in regulating neurotransmitter release and synaptic plasticity. The neuronal porosome/fusion pore, the secretory machinery at the nerve terminal, is a 12-17 nm cup-shaped lipoprotein structure composed of cholesterol and a number of proteins, among them calcium channels, and the t-SNARE proteins Syntaxin-1 and SNAP-25. During neurotransmissi...

Neuronal activity-dependent membrane traffic at the neuromuscular junction.

During development and also in adulthood, synaptic connections are modulated by neuronal activity. To follow such modifications in vivo, new genetic tools are designed. The nontoxic C-terminal fragment of tetanus toxin (TTC) fused to a reporter gene such as LacZ retains the retrograde and transsynaptic transport abilities of the holotoxin itself. In this work, the hybrid protein is injected int...

Subsurface Cisterns and Their Relationship to the Neuronal Plasma Membrane

Subsurface cisterns (SSC's) are large, flattened, membrane-limited vesicles which are very closely apposed to the inner aspect of the plasma membranes of nerve cell bodies and the proximal parts of their processes. They occur in a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate neurons of both the peripheral and central nervous systems, but not in the surrounding supporting cells. SSC's are sheet-like i...

The neuronal membrane as a key factor in neurodegeneration

The neuronal membrane is the site where most processes involved in neuronal preservation and functioning are triggered. These actions require the participation of membrane-related molecular agents, which associate in protein/lipid clusters to initiate molecular processing and signal transduction. Furthermore, numerous neuropathological phenomena have their origin in this structure and/or are a ...