A New Rapid Imaging Technique Allows for Synaptic Proteins within Synapses to be Captured

Researchers at MIT and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have devised a new way to rapidly image synaptic proteins at high resolution. Our brains contain trillions of synapses to transmit messages from one neuron to another. Within these synapses are hundreds of different proteins, and the dysfunction of these proteins can lead to conditions such as schizophrenia and autism. Using fluorescent nucleic acid probes, the researchers can label and image as many as 12 different proteins in neuronal samples containing thousands of synapses.

The researchers plan to explore this technique in hopes of developing new treatments that could reverse the effects of specific diseases.