Nano-Scale Imaging of a Human Synapse

By Kyle Aitken

EMS300 Student Conference 2026

Slide 1: Nano-scale Imaging of a Human Synapse. A full description follows.

Summary

The slide deck presents research on nano-scale imaging of the human neuromuscular junction (NMJ) using NSPARC microscopy. Key objectives include capturing super-resolution images and performing morphological and statistical analyses to compare human and rodent NMJs. Findings indicate that human AChR stripes are significantly wider and longer, with increased inter-stripe distances, suggesting broader junctional folds. The study highlights the effectiveness of 3D deconvolution for improved imaging resolution and reveals greater heterogeneity in human NMJs compared to the more uniform structure in mice.