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Characterization Of Subcellular Functional Domains In The Vesicular Glutamate Transporter 3-Expressing Retinal Amacrine Cell Using Correlative Light And Electron Microscopy, Karl Friedrichsen

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following work seeks to better understand how neurons process multiple streams of information within the branches of their dendritic arbors. We use correlated light and electron microscopy to capture both live subcellular calcium responses and detailed morphology and synaptic connectivity in a unique retinal amacrine cell in order to directly study the relationship between structure and function. The vesicular glutamate transporter 3-expressing amacrine cell (VG3) selectively integrates and segregates visual information within its arbor branches and provides multiple target neuron types with appropriate excitatory or inhibitory synaptic inputs. By reconstructing VG3 arbor branches, synapses, and connected cell types, we …