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Projekt Druckansicht

Tomographie Elektronen-Mikroskop

Fachliche Zuordnung Neurowissenschaften
Förderung Förderung in 2009
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 130725592
 
Erstellungsjahr 2014

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

The TEM is used by a number of groups located in different institutes of the University of Göttingen, in the faculties of Biology, Geology, Physics and Medicine. It is also used by collaboration partners from non-university institutes in Göttingen. Finally, several users collaborate with researchers from other sites in Germany and abroad. We indicate here only the most important findings, of the main users. Rizzoli group (Medicine Faculty). The TEM (JEM-1011) was used to generate threedimensional views of synaptic boutons. The project involved the generation of a map of an average synaptic bouton, in molecular detail, based on a combination of electron microscopy, biochemistry, super-resolution light microscopy and modeling. The TEM was crucial in this process, enabling the group to show with precision the shape, volume and number of synaptic elements. In addition, vesicle trafficking in sensory cells was characterized by using fluorescence photo-oxidation electron microscopy. Here the technique of transforming fluorescent probes into electron microscopy labels was applied for the first time to a sensory system. Moser group (Medicine Faculty). The JEM-1011 was especially useful in the determination of the morphology of membranes participating in synaptic vesicle recycling in sensory cells of the auditory pathway (in the inner hair cells). The organization of the active zone, where synaptic vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane to release their neurotransmitter contents, was analyzed as well. These works were performed in collaboration with the Wichmann group. Wichmann group (Medicine Faculty). The group published several articles in collaboration with the Moser group (see previous paragraph). The group also collaborated with the group of Stephan Sigrist (Free University, Berlin), in investigating the roles of mutants of the active zone protein Bruchpilot in the Drosophila neuromuscular junction. This protein is central for the formation of active zones in this preparation. The work demonstrates that several different isoforms participate in the active zone formation. Hoppert group (Biology Faculty). The group uses transmission electron microscopy to study prokaryotes in microbial biofilms, to investigate the formation of biominerals, and to study the relation between microbial symbionts and their hosts (such as molluscs, crustaceans or sponges). Eimer group (European Neuroscience Institute, Göttingen). The Eimer group used the TEM to study the involvement of a novel protein, TFG-1, in the export of cargoes from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The work was performed in Caenorhabditis elegans, and it demonstrates the role of this molecule in protein exit from the ER. Varoqueaux and Brose groups (Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Göttingen). They studied the organization of synapses in the mouse retina, focusing on the involvement of the protein Munc-13. Electron tomography was used to determine whether Munc-13 is involved in vesicle priming. Sigrist group (Free University, Berlin). The group used the JEM-2100 device, in collaboration with C. Wichmann, to investigate the involvement of the protein RBP (RIM-binding protein) in the formation and function of the Drosophila active zone. This was the first demonstration of the involvement of RBP in the generation of the so-called T-bar at the Drosophila active zone.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

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