Synapse is the contact point between two neurons or between a neuron and a signaling effector cell. Using data obtained from STED microscopy, researchers managed to construct a three-dimensional reconstruction of the synaptic terminal containing 60 different proteins. All proteins were modeled with atomic precision.
What is striking is not so much the complexity of a single synapse, but the understanding that there are tens of trillions of such synapses in the human brain. Truly, order from chaos.
__(a – Slice through the synaptic terminal. The image contains 60 proteins, which are located in quantities and positions defined by microscopy. b – Proteins indicated on the synapse reconstruction. c – Enlarged image of the active zone.)__
