Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-10, Research Centre Jülich GmbH, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
Medical Faculty/RWTH University Hospital Aachen, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
Cereb Cortex. 2022 Apr 20;32(9):1840-1865. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhab315.
Synapses "govern" the computational properties of any given network in the brain. However, their detailed quantitative morphology is still rather unknown, particularly in humans. Quantitative 3D-models of synaptic boutons (SBs) in layer (L)6a and L6b of the temporal lobe neocortex (TLN) were generated from biopsy samples after epilepsy surgery using fine-scale transmission electron microscopy, 3D-volume reconstructions and electron microscopic tomography. Beside the overall geometry of SBs, the size of active zones (AZs) and that of the three pools of synaptic vesicles (SVs) were quantified. SBs in L6 of the TLN were middle-sized (5 μm2), the majority contained only a single but comparatively large AZ (0.20 μm2). SBs had a total pool of 1100 SVs with comparatively large readily releasable (RRP, ~10 SVs L6a), (RRP, ~15 SVs L6b), recycling (RP, ~150 SVs), and resting (900 SVs) pools. All pools showed a remarkably large variability suggesting a strong modulation of short-term synaptic plasticity. In conclusion, L6 SBs are highly reliable in synaptic transmission within the L6 network in the TLN and may act as "amplifiers," "integrators" but also as "discriminators" for columnar specific, long-range extracortical and cortico-thalamic signals from the sensory periphery.
突触“控制”大脑中任何特定网络的计算特性。然而,它们的详细定量形态仍然知之甚少,特别是在人类中。使用精细尺度的透射电子显微镜、3D 体积重建和电子显微镜断层扫描,从癫痫手术后的活检样本中生成了颞叶新皮层(TLN)第 6a 和 6b 层的突触小泡(SB)的定量 3D 模型。除了 SB 的整体几何形状外,还定量了活性区(AZ)的大小和三个突触小泡(SV)池的大小。TLN 的 L6 中的 SB 是中等大小的(5μm2),大多数只含有一个但比较大的 AZ(0.20μm2)。SB 具有约 1100 个 SV 的总池,具有较大的易释放(RRP,10 SVs L6a)、(RRP,15 SVs L6b)、再循环(RP,150 SVs)和静止(900 SVs)池。所有池都表现出明显的可变性,表明短期突触可塑性具有很强的调节能力。总之,L6 的 SB 在 TLN 的 L6 网络中的突触传递中是高度可靠的,并且可以作为“放大器”、“积分器”,但也可以作为“鉴别器”,用于从感觉外围到柱形特定的长程皮质外和皮质丘脑信号。