Neurofilaments switch between distinct mobile and stationary states during their transport along axons.

ABSTRACT: We have developed a novel pulse-escape fluorescence photoactivation technique to investigate the long-term pausing behavior of axonal neurofilaments. Cultured sympathetic neurons expressing a photoactivatable green fluorescent neurofilament fusion protein were illuminated with violet light in a short segment of axon to create a pulse of fluorescent neurofilaments. Neurofilaments departed from the photoactivated regions at rapid velocities, but the overall loss of fluorescence was slow because many of the neurofilaments paused for long periods of time before moving. The frequency of neurofilament departure was more rapid initially and slower at later times, resulting in biphasic decay kinetics. By computational simulation of the kinetics, we show that the neurofilaments switched between two

SUBMITTER: Trivedi N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1933499 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature