Happy to share our new paper, just published in @cellpress.bsky.social. We show that our zap&freeze approach can be used in human brain tissues to study synaptic membrane dynamics! Our brain is ultrafast after all! nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

Johns Hopkins scientists discover how a protein organizes message-carrying "bubbles" in brain synapses—advancing understanding of memory formation and learning. www.oneneurojhu.org/... @watanabelab.bsky.social

I am incredibly honored to receive this award! But now that I am behind the computer all day, this really is for the team! Congrats to the Watanabe lab!

We're thrilled to announce the largest private gift in our 137-year history: a $25 million unrestricted donation from MBL Whitman Scientist Mark Terasaki. His extraordinary generosity will bolster our renowned research and education programs. 🔬 Learn more: bit.ly/452WL1m

We unrestrained mice to study how they use their whiskers to learn a discrimination task. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Intersectin and endophilin condensates prime synaptic vesicles for release site replenishment @watanabelab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Super excited to share that our new study is published @natneuro.nature.com today!! Here we show that intersectin and endophilin form condensates between the active zone and the reserve pool and maintain synaptic vesicles near the active zone for rapid replenishment. rdcu.be/evi5y

We wrote a review article on ultrafast endocytosis and its mechanisms and relevance to diseases. Enjoy! pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40062769/

A new preprint alert from the lab!! Evidence for ultrafast endocytosis in inhibitory synapses!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A weekend fun with the lab! Welcoming four new members to the lab!!

Excited to share our new preprint "Dynamic nanoscale architecture of synaptic vesicle fusion in mouse hippocampal neurons" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We combine optogenetic stimulation of neurons with in situ cryo-ET to characterize membrane dynamics during synaptic vesicle fusion ❄️🔬⏱️

New preprint from the MemTraS team ! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Great collaboration with @fronzeslab.bsky.social and Vladan Lucic to determine the first cryo electron tomography images of dopamine "synapses" extracted from adult mouse brain.

another piece, covering our work! Thanks to Laura Tran at the Scientist!! www.the-scientist.com/challenging-...

📆Deadline extension alert!📆 The last day to submit applications for the MBL's 2025 Neurobiology course has been moved to February 3. Don't miss your opportunity to apply! Read more: bit.ly/3C2psks #ScienceStartsHere

another preprint to end 2024! Wondered how synaptic vesicles are recycled in human brains? and whether you can use human brain tissues to address it? You bet! We used live human brain slices and demonstrated that ultrafast endocytosis does it!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Here's another article, covering our work!! www.sciencenews.org/article/axon...

Study finds axons are not the cylindrical tubes pictured in books but more like pearls on a string. Article Link: www.oneneurojhu.org/2024/12/10/s... “These findings challenge a century of understanding about axon structure,” says lead researcher Shigeki Watanabe, Ph.D. @watanabelab.bsky.social

This new study, led by Shigeki Watanabe and partially conducted in the MBL’s Neurobiology course, challenges a fundamental tenet in neuroscience about the shape of axons and proposes a new model for understanding how information is transmitted in the brain. #science 🧪 🧠

Did we conceive the structure of neurons incorrectly all these years? nature.com/articles/s41... not smooth, cylindrical strands but a string of pearls? it's controversial science.org/content/arti... @science.org

Important article that challenges the classic view of axons as simple tubes. To what extent they fluctuate in diameter is up for debate - see some thoughts in this commentary piece in @science.org. Exciting time for axon scientists!

Excited to share our latest findings, now published @NatureNeuro www.nature.com/articles/s41... We found unmyelinated axons exhibit pearls-on-a-string morphology's due to their membrane mechanical properties. Threads will follow!