The Isolation, from the Perikarya of Cholinergic Neurones, of mRNAs Capable of Synthesizing Synaptic Proteins in Cell-free Systems

Abstract

The rapid degeneration which the distal portions of axons and their terminals undergo when separated from their cell bodies, the orthograde axonal transport of proteins from cell body to terminal and the profusion of polysomes and of rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum in the cytoplasm of neuronal perikarya are well-known facts which indicate the dependence of the synapse on the protein-synthetic activity of the cell body. There is little evidence for protein-synthetic activity elsewhere in the neurone: thus attempts to demonstrate protein synthesis in synaptosomes (detached nerve terminals), apart from that which can be accounted for by their contained mitochondria (Hernández 1974) and by contamination by cell fragments rich in ribosomes (Morgan 1970), have been unconvincing.