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Phosphofructokinase in the rat nervous system: regional differences in activity and characteristics of axonal transport.

The distribution of phosphofructokinase (PFK) in gray and white matter regions of the rat nervous system was evaluated. Determinations of PFK activity revealed that cell body enriched regions (sensorimotor cortex) had a significantly higher level of activity than axonal regions (sciatic nerve, dorsal roots, and optic nerve). The level of PFK activity was also significantly higher in central axons (optic nerve) than in peripheral axons (sciatic nerve). Differences in PFK activity could be largely attributed to differences in tissue content of the enzyme rather than to differences in the types of PFK isozymes present. Cortex contained significantly larger amounts of PFK relative to total protein than did peripheral nerve. However, purification of PFK revealed that all three of the PFK isozymes, C (86 kd), A (84 kd), and B (80 kd), were present in both cortex and sciatic nerve. Both SDS/PAGE and immunoblotting studies using PFK isozyme-specific antibodies demonstrated that the relative proportions of the three PFK isozymes were similar in cell body and axonal regions of the nervous system. The PFK-C and PFK-A isozymes each comprised about half the total and only small amounts of the PFK-B isozyme were present in both regions. However, immunoprecipitation experiments suggested that quantitatively different proportions of the possible PFK hybrids (tetramers) may be distributed between axonal and cell body regions. The transport of PFK was examined in this study and PFK was identified in slow component b (SCb) of axonal transport. SCb moves at a rate of 2-4 mm/day in rat axons and is known to contain several other enzymes of intermediary metabolism as well as actin. The finding that PFK, the rate limiting enzyme in glycolysis, is present in SCb lends support to the hypothesis that glycolytic enzymes are not freely diffusing proteins in axons but, instead, are present as organized assemblies that have long-term, yet flexible, associations with structural elements of the cytoplasm.

Animals↗

Glycoproteins of axonal transport: affinity chromatography on fucose-specific lectins.

Rapidly transported fucose-labeled glycoproteins from axons of rabbit retinal ganglion cells were solubilized with nonionic detergents. The solubilized components were subjected to affinity chromatography on three different fucose-specific lectins. A recently characterized fucose-specific lectin from Aleuria aurantia bound reversibly approximately 60% of the applied protein-bound radioactivity. The lectins from Lotus tetragonolobus and Ulex europaeus bound are very small proportions of the labeled rapidly transported glycoproteins.

Animals↗

Contribution of axonal transport to the renewal of myelin phospholipids in peripheral nerves. I. Quantitative radioautographic study.

Kinetics of phospholipid constituents transferred from the axon to the myelin sheath were studied in the oculomotor nerve (OMN) and the ciliary ganglion (CG) of chicken. Axons of the OMN were loaded with transported phospholipids after an intracerebral injection of [2-3H]glycerol or [3H]labeled choline. Quantitative electron microscope radioautography revealed that labeled lipids were transported in the axons mainly associated with the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Simultaneously, the labeling of the myelin sheath was found in the Schmidt-Lanterman clefts and the inner myelin layers. The outer Schwann cell cytoplasm and the outer myelin layers contained some label with [methyl-3H]choline, but virtually none with [2-3H]glycerol. With time the radioactive lipids were redistributed throughout and along the whole myelin sheath. Since [2-3H]glycerol incorporated into phospholipids is practically not re-utilized, the occurrence of label in myelin results from a translocation of entire phospholipid molecules and from their preferential insertion into Schmidt-Lanterman clefts. In this way, the axon-myelin transfer of phospholipid contributes rapidly to the renewal of a limited pool of phospholipids in the inner myelin layers. When [methyl-3H]choline was used as precursor of phospholipids, the rapid appearance of the label in the inner myelin layers was interpreted also as an axon-myelin transfer of labeled phospholipids. However, the additional labeling of the outer Schwann cell cytoplasm adjacent to Schmidt-Lanterman clefts and of the outer myelin layers reflects a local re-incorporation of the base released from the axon. By these two processes, the axon contributes to purvey the inner myelin layers with new phospholipids and the Schwann cells with new choline molecules.

Animals↗

Tubulomembranous lesions in p-bromophenylacetylurea neuropathy reflect local stasis of fast axonal transport: evidence from electron microscopic autoradiography.

The source of the membranous materials that accumulate in distal axons of rats intoxicated with p-bromophenylacetylurea (BPAU) was studied by electron microscopy. 35S-Methionine was injected into the ventral horn of the spinal cord at 2, 14, and 35 days after injection of BPAU. Three days later, samples of the deep peroneal nerves were obtained, and autoradiographs of thin cross sections were prepared. Organellar accumulations were absent from vehicle-treated control nerves and rare in the clinically latent period after administration of BPAU. In later stages of neuropathy, approximately 20% of the myelinated axons in any specific section were swollen and packed with tubules, membranes, and mitochondria. Numerous silver grains were located over the accumulated organelles, and the coincidence was statistically significant. The results indicate a sporadic local stasis of fast-transported proteins and provide a plausible explanation for axonal damage in BPAU neuropathy.

Animals↗

Theoretical analysis of radioactivity profiles during fast axonal transport: effects of deposition and turnover.

In a preceding study [Blum, J.J., and Reed, M.C. (1985): Cell Motil. 5:507-527], factors responsible for the shape and velocity of the leading edge of the radiolabeled organelle profile were analyzed, but processes that might influence the shape of the plateau-like region behind the advancing wave were ignored. It is now shown that deposition of material from the fast transport system into membrane-associated structures, degradation of such deposited material and its return to the soma by the retrograde transport system, or leakage of radiolabeled material from the axon can account for the shape of the plateau. Furthermore, these processes are compatible with the maintenance of such structural inhomogeneities as the nodes of Ranvier.

Afferent Pathways↗

The beta-amyloid-related proteins presenilin 1 and BACE1 are axonally transported to nerve terminals in the brain.

In this study, we show that removal of entorhinal cortex (ERC) afferents to hippocampus reduces levels of presenilin 1 (PS1) in the dentate gyrus of APPswe/PS1DeltaE9 transgenic (Tg) mice. PS1 immunoreactivity on the deafferented dentate gyrus decreases by approximately 25% and 50%, 2 and 4 weeks post-lesion compared to the contralateral side; by Western blotting, there is an approximately 40% decrease of the 43 kDa (full length) PS1 and an approximately 80% decrease of the 28 kDa (N-terminal fragment) PS1 on the lesioned dentate gyrus. Levels of beta-site APP Cleavage Enzyme 1 (BACE1) immunoreactivity also decrease by approximately 50% and 65% 2 and 4 weeks post-lesion. Together, these data demonstrate that PS1 and BACE1 are transported from the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampus via axons of the perforant pathway.

Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases↗

Retrograde axonal transport of herpes simplex virus: evidence for a single mechanism and a role for tegument.

Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV) typically enters peripheral nerve terminals and then travels back along the nerve to reach the neuronal cell body, where it replicates or enters latency. To monitor axoplasmic transport of HSV, we used the giant axon of the squid, Loligo pealei, a well known system for the study of axoplasmic transport. To deliver HSV into the axoplasm, viral particles stripped of their envelopes by detergent were injected into the giant axon, thereby bypassing the infective process. Labeling the viral tegument protein, VP16, with green fluorescent protein allowed viral particles moving inside the axon to be imaged by confocal microscopy. Viral particles moved 2.2 +/- 0.26 micrometer/sec in the retrograde direction, a rate comparable to that of the transport of endogenous organelles and of virus in mammalian neurons in culture. Electron microscopy confirmed that 96% of motile (stripped) viral particles had lost their envelope but retained tegument, and Western blot analysis revealed that these particles had retained protein from capsid but not envelope. We conclude that (i) HSV recruits the squid retrograde transport machinery; (ii) viral tegument and capsid but not envelope are sufficient for this recruitment; and (iii) the giant axon of the squid provides a unique system to dissect the viral components required for transport and to identify the cellular transport mechanisms they recruit.

Animals↗

Association of syntaxin with SNAP-25 and VAMP (synaptobrevin) during axonal transport.

Two proteins of the presynaptic plasma membrane, syntaxin and SNAP-25, and a synaptic vesicle membrane protein, VAMP/synaptobrevin, form stable protein complexes that are involved in the docking and fusion of synaptic vesicles at the presynaptic membrane. These protein complexes have also been described in a homogeneous population of cholinergic synaptosomes purified from Torpedo electric organ. In the present study, we performed similar experiments combining velocity sedimentation and immunoprecipitation on control or ligated electric nerves and found it was possible to distinguish syntaxin that is in the axonal plasma membrane from syntaxin that is transported by the fast anterograde axonal flow. Although syntaxin that is resident in axonal membranes is associated with SNAP-25 but not with VAMP, syntaxin that accumulates proximally to a ligature is associated with both SNAP-25 and VAMP in a stoichiometry very similar to that of the nerve terminal complex. In control nerves, lower amounts of syntaxin form a complex with VAMP, in proportion to syntaxin, which is conveyed by the axonal flow. Because added VAMP was unable to associate with syntaxin in solubilized control nerves and because neither solubilization by SDS nor dilution to the nanomolar range of syntaxin and VAMP concentrations before solubilization change the stoiechiometry between the immunoprecipitated proteins, this complex appears to be both formed prior to solubilization and stable thereafter. Hence, heterotrimeric complexes containing syntaxin, SNAP-25, and VAMP are already formed during fast anterograde axonal transport, before reaching the nerve endings.

Animals↗

Glycoproteins of axonal transport. Interaction with heparin.

Rapidly transported fucose-containing glycoproteins, in axons and nerve terminals, from retinal ganglion cells of the rabbit have been characterized via affinity chromatography on a new fucose-specific lectin from Aleuria aurantia. It was found that a relatively small number of highly labelled transported polypeptides did not bind to heparin-Sepharose. These polypeptides also showed a low affinity for the dye Coomassie brilliant blue following sodium dodecyl sulphate electrophoresis.

Animals↗

Does GAP-43 support axon growth by increasing the axonal transport velocity of calmodulin?

GAP-43 is a neuronal protein whose synthesis is elevated during developmental and regenerative axon growth. We propose that one consequence of this increased synthesis may be the delivery of calmodulin-like proteins to the distal portions of the growing axon at an increased velocity; this is because calmodulin, which is transported slowly in mature intact axons, can bind to GAP-43, which is transported rapidly. The release of calmodulin from GAP-43 would be regulated by phosphorylation by protein kinase C. Such a rapid carrier function could be important for allowing certain recently synthesized slowly transported proteins to reach the moving growth cone in time to support its function. This hypothetical carrier mechanism is consistent with the phosphorylation pattern, calmodulin binding, transport velocity, and growth-association of GAP-43, and suggests an explanation for the specific importance of newly synthesized GAP-43 in supporting axon growth.

Animals↗

Multiple-rate components of axonally transported proteins in the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial system of the rat.

The transport of labeled proteins from the hypothalamus to the neurohypophysis following 35S-methionine injection into the rat supraoptic nucleus was studied using a unique approach adapted for the study of short-axon systems. Multiple-rate components to those found in other neuronal systems were demonstrated. Neurosecretory vesicle-containing proteins (e.g., neurophysins) were transported at fast rates (greater than 120 mm/day), whereas the cytoskeletal protein, actin, moved principally in the slow component of transport. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis was used to analyze the diverse patterns of labeled proteins found in the various rate components of axonal transport in this system.

Actins↗

Protein degradation in the mouse visual system. I. Degradation of axonally transported and retinal proteins.

The analysis of proteolysis in the nervous system is complicated by the heterogeneity of cell types, extensive reutilization of liberated amino acids, and artifacts that may arise when the integrity of the tissue is disrupted during experimentation. For these reasons, changes in proteolytic activity that are observed during brain development and in neuropathological states may often be difficult to interpret. To minimize these problems, we have developed a technique that permits protein degradation to be investigated specifically within axons of the mouse retinal ganglion cells (RGC). In the present study, the method has been used to examine the degradation of proteins conveyed in the slow phases of axoplasmic transport. When adult C57Bl/6J mice were injected intravitreally with L-[3H]proline, labeled proteins within the primary optic pathway (optic nerve and tract) after 5 days were almost exclusively the slow phase axonal proteins. The rate of degradation of these proteins was then determined within the excised, but otherwise intact, optic pathway by measuring the release of acid soluble radioactivity at 37 degrees C in vitro. At physiological pH, the amino acids released by proteolysis were extensively reutilized. Unless amino acid reutilization was prevented, protein degradative rates were artifactually lowered 3-fold. At least two proteolytic systems within RGC axons actively degraded the slowly transported axonal proteins. A 'neutral' system, stimulated by exogenous calcium ions, was optimally active within the physiological pH range (pH 7.0--7.8). The rate of protein degradation at pH 7.4 was uniform along the RGC axon. An 'acidic' system was optimally active with the incubation was carried out at pH 3.8. This proteolytic activity was calcium-independent and exhibited a proximodistal gradient within the RCG axon with higher activity proximally. Similar proteolytic activities were present in isolated intact retinas but in different proportions. The half-lives of axonal and retinal proteins were comparable to CNS protein half-lives estimated in vivo by methods that take amino acid reutilization into account. These and other recent findings demonstrate the utility of this neuron-specific approach in characterizing proteolytic processes within one cell type that may otherwise be obscured by proteolytic events in other cells when brain tissue is analyzed by conventional methods.

Animals↗