Reconstructing Soma-Soma Synapse-like Vesicular Exocytosis with DNA Origami

Abstract

Cell-cell communications exhibit distinct physiological functions in immune responses and neurotransmitter signaling. Nevertheless, the ability to reconstruct a soma-soma synapse-like junction for probing intercellular communications remains difficult. In this work, we develop a DNA origami nanostructure-based method for establishing cell conjugation, which consequently facilitates the reconstruction of a soma-soma synapse-like junction. We demonstrate that intercellular communications including small molecule and membrane vesicle exchange between cells are maintained in the artificially designed synapse-like junction. By inserting the carbon fiber nanometric electrodes into the soma-soma synapse-like junction, we accomplish the real-time monitoring of individual vesicular exocytotic events and obtain the information on vesicular exocytosis kinetics via analyzing the parameters of current spikes. This strategy provides a versatile platform to study synaptic communications.