Fig. 2

Enrichment and integrity analysis of synaptic protein preparations a) A representative western blot from 3 cases shows the enrichment of synaptic proteins and exclusions of histones from the synaptoneurosome preparation (P) compared to crude homogenate (H) protein from that sample. Blots were probed for PSD95, synaptophysin, histone and GAPDH. b Total protein analysis (TPA) was also used to determine whether any samples showed evidence of protein degradation. Boxes in panel (b) indicate the molecular weight ranges analysed for total protein stain. Quantification reveals no difference in total protein in BA17 (c) or BA41/42 (d) samples (One way ANOVAs, p > 0.05). Transmission electron microscopy confirms that synaptoneurosome preparations contain paired pre and post synaptic terminals as expected (e). We observe clear electron dense postsynaptic densities (arrows), presynaptic vesicles (arrowheads), presynaptic mitochondria (m) and small processes associated with synapses (*). Scale bar represents 500 nm