Postsynaptic densities and the adjacent cytoskeleton were examined in deep-etched, unfixed slices of guinea pig anteroventral cochlear nucleus. The postsynaptic density seen in conventional thin sections corresponds to a meshwork of 4-nm filaments associated with intramembrane particles at the postsynaptic active zone of inhibitory as well as excitatory synapses. These filaments intermesh with a lattice of 8- to 9-nm microfilaments, tentatively identified as F-actin, that is concentrated under the postsynaptic density. We postulate that the meshwork of 4-nm filaments anchors receptors to the adjacent microfilament lattice; this extended postsynaptic complex may limit the mobility of receptors and help maintain the curvature of the postsynaptic membrane.
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October 01 1981
Cytoskeletal organization at the postsynaptic complex.
R L Gulley
T S Reese
Online ISSN: 1540-8140
Print ISSN: 0021-9525
J Cell Biol (1981) 91 (1): 298–302.
Citation
R L Gulley, T S Reese; Cytoskeletal organization at the postsynaptic complex.. J Cell Biol 1 October 1981; 91 (1): 298–302. doi: https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.91.1.298
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