Figure 1.

Punctate nonsynaptic localization of endogenous α-synuclein particles in axons and characterization of mRFP::α-SYN. A, Cultured hippocampal neurons immunostained with MAP2 (green) and α-synuclein (red) with corresponding overlay and phase images. Although the bulk of α-synuclein localizes to synapses (yellow; along MAP2-positive dendrites in overlay image), punctate nonsynaptic α-synuclein (red; arrowheads along MAP2-negative axons) is evident. B, Cultured hippocampal neurons transfected with mRFP::α-SYN (red) and subsequently immunostained with the presynaptic marker synaptophysin (green) shows that the bulk of the fusion protein localizes to presynaptic sites (arrowheads), similar to the wild-type protein. Perikarya in A and B are denoted by an asterisk.