Rotation of endosomes demonstrates coordination of molecular motors during axonal transport.

ABSTRACT: Long-distance axonal transport is critical to the maintenance and function of neurons. Robust transport is ensured by the coordinated activities of multiple molecular motors acting in a team. Conventional live-cell imaging techniques used in axonal transport studies detect this activity by visualizing the translational dynamics of a cargo. However, translational measurements are insensitive to torques induced by motor activities. By using gold nanorods and multichannel polarization microscopy, we simultaneously measure the rotational and translational dynamics for thousands of axonally transported endosomes. We find that the rotational dynamics of an endosome provide complementary information regarding molecular motor activities to the conventionally tracked translational dynamics. Rotatio

SUBMITTER: Kaplan L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5846296 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature