Analysis of Spatial Distribution of Vesicles in Presynaptic Terminals of the Hippocampus in vivo and in vitro

A comparative morphometric analysis of electron photomicrographs of the presynaptic terminals in cultured in vitro for 7 days CA1 hippocampal slices from 7-day-old rats and in the hippocampi of 14-day-old rats was conducted. As compared with the terminals of intact neurons, the terminals of cultured cells were larger and contained a greater amount of synaptic vesicles, which, however, to a lesser extent were united in clusters. Distributions of the vesicle profiles in cultured slices were characterized by a greater distance to the nearest neighbor. Obviously, such structural features should be taken into account when interpreting data obtained in electrophysiological studies on hippocampal slice cultures.