VLC-PUFAs are enriched in retinal synapses. (A) Representative Western blot of fractionated bovine whole retina (WR) showed that rhodopsin (Rho, 37 kDa) was enriched in rod outer segments (OS), whereas VGlut1 (60 kDa) was localized to the ribbon synaptosome (RS) and synaptic vesicle protein (SV2; 95 kDa) was localized to the conventional synaptosome (CS) fractions. The WR sample was the whole retinal homogenate before centrifugation. (B) Ribbon and conventional synaptosome (RS and CS, respectively) fractions contained VLC-PUFAs that were not derived from OS contamination (n = 4). (C) Vesicles in WT rod terminals were predominately 20 to 39 nm in diameter, whereas the vesicles within the KO mouse terminals (D) were more frequently 20 to 29 nm in diameter. (E) Representative micrograph of a WT rod terminal shows an example of vesicles measuring between 30 and 39 nm (arrows). (F) Representative micrograph of a KO rod terminal shows an example of vesicles measuring between 20 to 19 nm (thick arrowheads) and 30 to 39 nm (arrows). Abnormal vesicles (empty arrowheads) appearing “deflated” were frequently observed in the KO mouse spherules. Mice were 12 months of age. Scale bars: 500 nm. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. (This research was originally published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. Bennett et al., (2014). © Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.)