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Volume 16, Number 24,
Issue of December 15, 1996
pp. 7812-7820
Copyright ©1996 Society for Neuroscience
Translocation of RNA Granules in Living Neurons
Received July 10, 1996; revised Sept. 13, 1996; accepted Sept. 24, 1996.
Roger B. Knowles1,
James H. Sabry2,
Maryann E. Martone3,
Thomas J. Deerinck3,
Mark H. Ellisman3,
Gary J. Bassell1, and
Kenneth S. Kosik1
1 Center for Neurological Diseases, Brigham and
Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 2 Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School,
Boston, Massachusetts 02115, and 3 Microscopy and Imaging
Resource, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
92093-0608
Sorting of RNAs to specific subcellular loci occurs in diverse
settings from fly oocytes to mammalian neurons. Using the
membrane-permeable nucleic acid stain SYTO 14, we directly visualized
the translocation of endogenous RNA in living cells. Labeled RNA was
distributed nonrandomly as discrete granules in neuronal processes. The
labeled granules colocalized with poly(A+) mRNA, with the
60S ribosomal subunit, and with elongation factor 1 , suggesting that
granules represent a translational unit. A subset of labeled granules
colocalized with -actin mRNA. Correlative light and electron
microscopy indicated that the fluorescent granules corresponded to
clusters of ribosomes at the ultrastructural level. Poststaining of
sections with heavy metals confirmed the presence of ribosomes within
these granules. In living neurons, a subpopulation of RNA granules was
motile during the observation period. They moved at an average rate of
0.1 µm/sec. In young cultures their movements were exclusively
anterograde, but after 7 d in culture, one-half of the motile
granules moved in the retrograde direction. Granules in neurites were
delocalized after treatment with microtubule-disrupting drugs. These
results raise the possibility of a cellular trafficking system for the
targeting of RNA in neurons.
Key words:
RNA granules;
cytoskeleton;
ribosomes;
-actin mRNA;
elongation factor 1 ;
photo-oxidation;
RNA
translocation
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