Publication
Title
Systematic quantification of synapses in primary neuronal culture
Author
Abstract
Most neurological disorders display impaired synaptic connectivity. Hence, modulation of synapse formation may have therapeutic relevance. However, the high density and small size of synapses complicate their quantification. To improve synapse-oriented screens, we analyzed the labeling performance of synapse-targeting antibodies on neuronal cell cultures using segmentation-independent image analysis based on sliding window correlation. When assessing pairwise colocalization, a common readout for mature synapses, overlap was incomplete and confounded by spurious signals. To circumvent this, we implemented a proximity ligation-based approach that only leads to a signal when two markers are sufficiently close. We applied this approach to different marker combinations and demonstrate its utility for detecting synapse density changes in healthy and compromised cultures. Thus, segmentation-independent analysis and exploitation of resident protein proximity increases the sensitivity of synapse quantifications in neuronal cultures and represents a valuable extension to the analytical toolset for in vitro synapse screens.
Language
English
Source (journal)
iScience
Related dataset(s)
Publication
Elsevier , 2020
ISSN
2589-0042
DOI
10.1016/J.ISCI.2020.101542
Volume/pages
23 :9 (2020) , 37 p.
Article Reference
101542
ISI
000577099500002
Pubmed ID
33083769
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
The peripheral component of neurodegeneration: uptake and transmission of amyloid proteins in the enteric nervous system.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 30.09.2020
Last edited 02.10.2024
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