Axons transport

FIGURE 17.8 (a) Rapid axonal transport along microtnbnles permits the exchange of material between the synaptic terminal and the body of the nerve cell, (b) Vesicles, mnltivesicn-lar bodies, and mitochondria are carried throngh the axon by this mechanism. 

Vinca alkaloids (vincristine, vinblastine, vindesine) are derived from the periwinkle plant (Vinca rosea), they bind to tubulin and inhibit its polymerization into microtubules and spindle formation, thus producing metaphase arrest. They are cell cycle specific and interfere also with other cellular activities that involve microtubules, such as leukocyte phagocytosis, chemotaxis, and axonal transport in neurons. Vincristine is mainly neurotoxic and mildly hematotoxic, vinblastine is myelosuppressive with veiy low neurotoxicity whereas vindesine has both, moderate myelotoxicity and neurotoxicity. 

MTs extend from the centrosome throughout the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane, where they are stabilized by caps. Sliding along the MTs, kinesin and dynein motors transport their cargoes between the center and the periphery of the cell. MTs present in the axons of neur ons are extended not only by addition of heterodimers to the plus ends but also by use of short MTs that initiate in the centrosome. Their axonal transport is mediated by dynein motors that are passively moved along actin filaments. Once formed in the axon, MTs serve as tracks for the fast axonal transport, i.e. the movement of membranous organelles and membrane proteins to the nerve ending. 

In contrast to the small transmitter molecules, the neuropeptides are synthesized in the rough endoplasmic reticulum of the neuronal perikarya. They are enclosed in vesicles in the Golgi apparatus. The vesicles travel down to the terminals by axonal transport. 

Vinca alkaloids are derived from the Madagascar periwinkle plant, Catharanthus roseus. The main alkaloids are vincristine, vinblastine and vindesine. Vinca alkaloids are cell-cycle-specific agents and block cells in mitosis. This cellular activity is due to their ability to bind specifically to tubulin and to block the ability of the protein to polymerize into microtubules. This prevents spindle formation in mitosing cells and causes arrest at metaphase. Vinca alkaloids also inhibit other cellular activities that involve microtubules, such as leukocyte phagocytosis and chemotaxis as well as axonal transport in neurons. Side effects of the vinca alkaloids such as their neurotoxicity may be due to disruption of these functions. 

Neuroanatomists have taken advantage of the phenomenon of fast retrograde transport to locate remote nerve cell bodies in the CNS of an experimental animal that are connected to an identified axonal fiber tract whose origin is uncertain. The tracer material [purified horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme] is injected in the region of the axon terminals, where it is taken up by endocytosis and then is carried by retrograde axonal transport over a period of several hours to days back to the nerve cell body. The animal is sacrificed, and the enzyme tracer is localized by staining thin sections of the brain for peroxidase activity. 

Smith, R.S. (1980). The short term accumulation of axonally transported organelles in the region of localized lesions of single myelinated axons. J. Neurocytol. 9, 39-65. 

Okabe, S., Hirokawa, N. (1989). Axonal transport. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 1, 91-97. 

Figure 12.2 A hypothetical synapse where co-existence of peptides and classical transmitters occurs. A is a classical transmitter whereas B and C are peptides. The slow synthesis of peptides and the need for axonal transport may mean that in active neurons, the classical transmitter may be released under all conditions, but the peptide(s) may require higher intensities of stimulation for release and be depleted if the neuron continues to fire for long periods. Competition for peptidases can lead to changes in levels of two co-released peptides. At the postsynaptic site, the receptor mechanisms of the co-existing transmitters can also produce complex changes in neuronal activity...

FIGURE 2. A schematic representation showing the two classes of raphe-cortical axon terminals that were identified by anterograde axon transport... 

Yokoyama K, Araki S. 1992. Assessment of axonal transport in lead-exposed rats. Environ Res 59 440-446. 

De Waegh, S. M., Lee, V. M.-Y. and Brady, S. T. Local modulation of neurofilament phosphorylation, axonal caliber, and slow axonal transport by myelinating Schwann cells. Cell 68 451-463,1992. 

Brownlees, J., Ackerley, S., Grierson, A. J. et al. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease neurofilament mutations disrupt neurofilament assembly and axonal transport. Hum. Molec. Genet. 11 2837-2844, 2002. 

Details of the mechanisms by which endocytosed material moves from the early to the late and lysosomal compartment are still poorly understood. However, portions of the EEs tubulovesicular structures may be actively transported along microtubules towards the perinuclear region of the cell in both neurons and non-neuronal cells. These endosomes on the move may enclose invaginated membranes and also internally bud off vesicles. For that reason, these complex structures are called multivesicular bodies (MVBs) [76]. Material returning by retrograde axonal transport to the neuronal cell body includes many MVBs [67]. The eventual fate of these structures may vary. Some MVBs may fuse with LEs or they may fuse with each... 

Dynein Motor protein mediating microtubule-based synaptic vesicle transport. May be involved in retrograde axonal transport to the cell body. 

Subsequent anatomical techniques (e.g. immunohisto-chemistry of 5-HT or tryptophan hydroxylase, an enzyme unique to the synthesis of 5-HT retrograde and anterograde axonal transport studies) have allowed a more complete and accurate characterization of the serotonergic innervation of forebrain areas. 

FIGURE 1 8-3 Intracellular pathway of bioactive peptide biosynthesis, processing and storage. Neuropeptide precursors are synthesized on ribosomes at the endoplasmic reticulum and processed through the Golgi. Axonal transport of the large dense-core vesicle to the synaptic site of release precedes the actual secretion. 

In other examples, the amount of peptide available for release can be depleted by repeated firing of a terminal since new peptide must arrive by axonal transport, while new conventional neurotransmitters are synthesized or recaptured locally and transported into small synaptic vesicles. 

The receptor for NGF is TrkA, a 140 kDa cell surface protein that specifically binds NGF, but not other neurotrophins [5, 6, 9]. TrkA is expressed on the neuronal cell body and on neuronal processes. In its action as a target-derived trophic factor, NGF is secreted within the target organ and it then binds to TrkA receptors present on the growing neuronal process or synapse. The NGF-TrkA complex is then internalized and subsequently translocated to the cell body by retrograde axonal transport. In those cells that respond to NGF through autocrine or paracrine mechanisms, the growth factor can bind to any of the widely distributed TrkA molecules on the neuronal membrane. 

DISCOVERY AND CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF FAST AND SLOW AXONAL TRANSPORT 486... 

Fast and slow components of axonal transport differ in both their... 

Features of fast axonal transport demonstrated by biochemical and pharmacological approaches are apparent from video images 488... 

Axonal growth and regeneration are limited by rates of slow axonal transport 494... 

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