Skip to main content
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1985 Apr 1;100(4):1167–1172. doi: 10.1083/jcb.100.4.1167

Proteins transported in slow components a and b of axonal transport are distributed differently in the transverse plane of the axon

PMCID: PMC2113744  PMID: 2579956

Abstract

The distribution of the proteins migrating with the slow components a (SCa) and b (SCb) of axonal transport were studied in cross-sections of axons with electron microscope autoradiography. Radiolabeled amino acids were injected into the hypoglossal nucleus of rabbits and after 15 d, the animals were killed. Hypoglossal nerves were processed either for SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis fluorography to identify and locate the two components of slow transport, or for quantitative electron microscope autoradiography. Proteins transported in SCa were found to be uniformly distributed within the cross-section of the axon. Labeled SCb proteins were also found throughout the axonal cross- section, but the subaxolemmal region of the axon contained 2.5 times more SCb radioactivity than any comparable area in the remainder of the axon.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.7 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bennett V., Davis J., Fowler W. E. Brain spectrin, a membrane-associated protein related in structure and function to erythrocyte spectrin. Nature. 1982 Sep 9;299(5879):126–131. doi: 10.1038/299126a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Black M. M., Lasek R. J. Slow components of axonal transport: two cytoskeletal networks. J Cell Biol. 1980 Aug;86(2):616–623. doi: 10.1083/jcb.86.2.616. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bonner W. M., Laskey R. A. A film detection method for tritium-labelled proteins and nucleic acids in polyacrylamide gels. Eur J Biochem. 1974 Jul 1;46(1):83–88. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1974.tb03599.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brady S. T., Lasek R. J., Allen R. D. Fast axonal transport in extruded axoplasm from squid giant axon. Science. 1982 Dec 10;218(4577):1129–1131. doi: 10.1126/science.6183745. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brady S. T., Lasek R. J. Nerve-specific enolase and creatine phosphokinase in axonal transport: soluble proteins and the axoplasmic matrix. Cell. 1981 Feb;23(2):515–523. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90147-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brady S. T., Tytell M., Heriot K., Lasek R. J. Axonal transport of calmodulin: a physiologic approach to identification of long-term associations between proteins. J Cell Biol. 1981 Jun;89(3):607–614. doi: 10.1083/jcb.89.3.607. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Brady S. T., Tytell M., Lasek R. J. Axonal tubulin and axonal microtubules: biochemical evidence for cold stability. J Cell Biol. 1984 Nov;99(5):1716–1724. doi: 10.1083/jcb.99.5.1716. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dyck P. J., Low P. A., Sparks M. F., Hexum L. A., Karnes J. L. Effect of serum hyperosmolality on morphometry of healthy human sural nerve. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1980 May;39(3):285–295. doi: 10.1097/00005072-198005000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Ellisman M. H., Porter K. R. Microtrabecular structure of the axoplasmic matrix: visualization of cross-linking structures and their distribution. J Cell Biol. 1980 Nov;87(2 Pt 1):464–479. doi: 10.1083/jcb.87.2.464. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Garner J. A., Lasek R. J. Clathrin is axonally transported as part of slow component b: the microfilament complex. J Cell Biol. 1981 Jan;88(1):172–178. doi: 10.1083/jcb.88.1.172. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Garner J. A., Lasek R. J. Cohesive axonal transport of the slow component b complex of polypeptides. J Neurosci. 1982 Dec;2(12):1824–1835. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.02-12-01824.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Grafstein B., Forman D. S. Intracellular transport in neurons. Physiol Rev. 1980 Oct;60(4):1167–1283. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1980.60.4.1167. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Griffin J. W., Price D. L., Drachman D. B., Morris J. Incorporation of axonally transported glycoproteins into axolemma during nerve regeneration. J Cell Biol. 1981 Jan;88(1):205–214. doi: 10.1083/jcb.88.1.205. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hirokawa N. Cross-linker system between neurofilaments, microtubules, and membranous organelles in frog axons revealed by the quick-freeze, deep-etching method. J Cell Biol. 1982 Jul;94(1):129–142. doi: 10.1083/jcb.94.1.129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hoffman P. N., Lasek R. J. The slow component of axonal transport. Identification of major structural polypeptides of the axon and their generality among mammalian neurons. J Cell Biol. 1975 Aug;66(2):351–366. doi: 10.1083/jcb.66.2.351. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Jockusch H., Jockusch B. M., Burger M. M. Nerve fibers in culture and their interactions with non-neural cells visualized by immunofluorescence. J Cell Biol. 1979 Mar;80(3):629–641. doi: 10.1083/jcb.80.3.629. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kuczmarski E. R., Rosenbaum J. L. Studies on the organization and localization of actin and myosin in neurons. J Cell Biol. 1979 Feb;80(2):356–371. doi: 10.1083/jcb.80.2.356. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. LaVail J. H., Sugino I. K., McDonald D. M. Localization of axonally transported 125I-wheat germ agglutinin beneath the plasma membrane of chick retinal ganglion cells. J Cell Biol. 1983 Feb;96(2):373–381. doi: 10.1083/jcb.96.2.373. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Lasek R. J. Translocation of the neuronal cytoskeleton and axonal locomotion. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1982 Nov 4;299(1095):313–327. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1982.0135. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Levine J., Willard M. Fodrin: axonally transported polypeptides associated with the internal periphery of many cells. J Cell Biol. 1981 Sep;90(3):631–642. doi: 10.1083/jcb.90.3.631. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Metuzals J., Hodge A. J., Lasek R. J., Kaiserman-Abramof I. R. Neurofilamentous network and filamentous matrix preserved and isolated by different techniques from squid giant axon. Cell Tissue Res. 1983;228(3):415–432. doi: 10.1007/BF00211465. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Metuzals J., Tasaki I. Subaxolemmal filamentous network in the giant nerve fiber of the squid (Loligo pealei L.) and its possible role in excitability. J Cell Biol. 1978 Aug;78(2):597–621. doi: 10.1083/jcb.78.2.597. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Morris J. R., Lasek R. J. Monomer-polymer equilibria in the axon: direct measurement of tubulin and actin as polymer and monomer in axoplasm. J Cell Biol. 1984 Jun;98(6):2064–2076. doi: 10.1083/jcb.98.6.2064. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Morris J. R., Lasek R. J. Stable polymers of the axonal cytoskeleton: the axoplasmic ghost. J Cell Biol. 1982 Jan;92(1):192–198. doi: 10.1083/jcb.92.1.192. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Papasozomenos S. C., Yoon M., Crane R., Autilio-Gambetti L., Gambetti P. Redistribution of proteins of fast axonal transport following administration of beta,beta'-iminodipropionitrile: a quantitative autoradiographic study. J Cell Biol. 1982 Nov;95(2 Pt 1):672–675. doi: 10.1083/jcb.95.2.672. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Salpeter M. M., Bachmann L., Salpeter E. E. Resolution in electron microscope radioautography. J Cell Biol. 1969 Apr;41(1):1–32. doi: 10.1083/jcb.41.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Schnapp B. J., Reese T. S. Cytoplasmic structure in rapid-frozen axons. J Cell Biol. 1982 Sep;94(3):667–669. doi: 10.1083/jcb.94.3.667. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Spooner B. S., Holladay C. R. Distribution of tubulin and actin in neurites and growth cones of differentiating nerve cells. Cell Motil. 1981;1(2):167–178. doi: 10.1002/cm.970010202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Tessler A., Autilio-Gambetti A., Gambetti P. Axonal growth during regeneration: a quantitative autoradiographic study. J Cell Biol. 1980 Oct;87(1):197–203. doi: 10.1083/jcb.87.1.197. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Tytell M., Brady S. T., Lasek R. J. Axonal transport of a subclass of tau proteins: evidence for the regional differentiation of microtubules in neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Mar;81(5):1570–1574. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.5.1570. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Willard M. B., Hulebak K. L. The intra-axonal transport of polypeptide H: evidence for a fifth (very slow) group of transported proteins in the retinal ganglion cells of the rabbit. Brain Res. 1977 Nov 11;136(2):289–306. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(77)90804-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Wujek J. R., Lasek R. J. Correlation of axonal regeneration and slow component B in two branches of a single axon. J Neurosci. 1983 Feb;3(2):243–251. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.03-02-00243.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES