University of

Alexandria
Faculty of Medicine

By Mohamed Hany Mohamed Zanaty

Chemical synapses are specialized junctions
through which neurons signal to each other
and to non-neuronal cells such as those in
muscles or glands. Chemical synapses allow
neurons to form circuits within the central
nervous system. They are crucial to the
biological computations that underlie
perception and thought. They allow the
nervous system to connect to and control
Synapses are functional connections between
neurons, or between neurons and other types
of cells.A typical neuron gives rise to several
thousand synapses, although there are some
types that make far fewer. Most synapses
connect axons to dendrites,but there are also
other types of connections, including axon-to-
cell-body, axon-to-axon,and dendrite-to-
dendrite. Synapses are generally too small to
be recognizable using a light microscope
except as points where the membranes of two
cells appear to touch, but their cellular
elements can be visualized clearly using an
electron microscope.
neuropil is a region between neuronal cell
bodies in the gray matter of the brain and
spinal cord (i.e. the central nervous
system). It consists of a dense tangle of
axon terminals, dendrites and glial cell
processes. It is where synaptic
connections are formed between
branches of axons and dendrites.
White matter, which is mostly composed
of axons and glial cells, is generally not
considered to be a part of the neuropil
On a coarse scale, nervous tissue
(ignoring blood vessels etc.) is composed
of the cell bodies of neurons and glial cells
and their processes or protrusions. For
neurons, these are dendrites, dendritic
spines and axons. Dendrites collect input
from other neurons, which is processed by
the neuron (in both its dendrites and its
cell body) and propagated to other cells
via axons, which act as long-distance
cables. At the end of an axon synapses
are formed, serving as chemical junctions
to other cells.
synaptic vesicles or neurotransmitter
vesicles store various neurotransmitters
that are released at the synapse. The
release is regulated by a voltage-
dependent calcium channel. Vesicles are
essential for propagating nerve impulses
between neurons and are constantly
recreated by the cell. The area in the axon
which holds groups of vesicles is a bouton.
Up to 130 vesicles can be released per
bouton over a ten minute period of
stimulation at 0.2 Hz
Synaptic vesicles are made of a lipid
bilayer in which transport proteins specific
to each type of neurotransmitter are
inserted. Neurotransmitters are moved
from the cell's cytoplasm into the vesicles
by vesicular transporters that rely on
active transport mechanisms involving an
exchange of protons (H+ ions). The
necessary proton gradient is created by V-
ATPase, which breaks down ATP for
energy. Vesicular glutamate transporters,
for example, sequester glutamate into
vesicles by this process.
Vesicle pools
in the nerve terminal are grouped into three pools: the
readily releasable pool, the recycling pool and the reserve
pool These pools are distinguished by their function and
position in the nerve terminal. The readily releasable pool
are docked to the cell membrane, making these the first
group of vesicles to be released on stimulation. The
readily releasable pool is small and is quickly exhausted.
The recycling pool is proximate to the cell membrane,
and tend to be cycled at moderate stimulation, so that
the rate of vesicle release is the same, or lower than, the
rate of vesicle formation. This pool is larger than the
readily releasable pool, but it takes longer to become
mobilised. The reserve pool constitutes the vast majority
of vesicles in the nerve terminal, but it is not clear that
vesicles in this pool are released under normal conditions.
Under experimental conditions, this pool is mobilised by
intense stimulation, and might only occur once the other
two pools are exhausted.
neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the
synapse or junction of the axon
terminal of a motoneuron with the
motor end plate, the highly-excitable
region of muscle fiber plasma
membrane responsible for initiation of
action potentials across the muscle's
surface, ultimately causing the muscle
to contract. In vertebrates, the signal
passes through the neuromuscular
Electron micrograph showing a cross section through the
neuromuscular junction. T is the axon terminal, M is the muscle
fiber. The arrow shows junctional folds with basal lamina.
Postsynaptic densities are visible on the tips between the folds.
Scale is 0.3 µm
Neuromuscular junction (global
view)
2.Axon
3.Synaptical junction
4.Muscle fiber
5.Myofibrils
Neuromuscular junction (closer view)
2.presynaptic terminal
3.sarcolemma
4.synaptic vesicles
5.Acetylcholine receptors
6.mitchondrion
electrical synapse is a mechanical and
electrically conductive link between two
abutting neuron cells that is formed at a
narrow gap between the pre- and
postsynaptic cells known as a gap
junction. At gap junctions, such cells
approach within about 3.5 nm of each
other (Kandel et al. 2000), a much shorter
distance than the 20 to 40 nm distance
that separates cells at chemical synapse
(Hormuzdi et al. 2004). In organisms,
electrical synapse-based systems co-exist
with chemical synapses.
Compared to chemical synapses, electrical
synapses conduct nerve impulses faster, but
unlike chemical synapses they do not have
gain (the signal in the post synaptic neuron is
always smaller than that of the originating
neuron). Electrical synapses are often found in
neural systems that require the fastest
possible response, such as defensive reflexes.
An important characteristic of electrical
synapses is that most of the time, they are
bidirectional, i.e. they allow impulse
transmission in either direction.[1] However,
some gap junctions do allow for
communication in only one direction
Structure
Each gap junction (aka nexus junction) contains
numerous gap junction channels which cross the
membranes of both cells (Gibson et al., 2004).
With a lumen diameter of about 1.2 to 2.0 nm
(Bennet and Zukin, 2004; Hormuzdi et al., 2004),
the pore of a gap junction channel is wide enough
to allow ions and even medium sized molecules
like signaling molecules to flow from one cell to
the next (Kandel et al., 2000, p. 178-180;
Hormuzdi et al., 2004), thereby connecting the
two cells' cytoplasm. Thus when the voltage of
one cell changes, ions may move through from
one cell to the next, carrying positive charge with
them and depolarizing the postsynaptic cell.
An interneuron (also called relay
neuron, association neuron or local
circuit neuron) is a multipolar neuron
which connects afferent neurons and
efferent neurons in neural pathways.
Like motor neurons, interneuron cell
bodies are always located in the central
nervous system (CNS)
Renshaw cells are inhibitory
interneurons found in the gray matter
of the spinal cord, and are associated in
two ways with an alpha motor neuron.
They receive an excitatory collateral
from the alpha neuron's axon as they
emerge from the motor root, and are
thus "kept informed" of how vigorously
that neuron is firing.
Next, they send their own inhibitory
axon to synapse with the cell body of
the initial alpha neuron.
In this way, Renshaw cell inhibition
represents a negative feedback
mechanism. A Renshaw cell may be
supplied by more than one alpha motor
neuron collaterals and it may synapse
on multiple motor neurons.