PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - ME Chicurel
AU  - DM Terrian
AU  - H Potter
TI  - mRNA at the synapse: analysis of a synaptosomal preparation enriched in hippocampal dendritic spines
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.13-09-04054.1993
DP  - 1993 Sep 01
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 4054--4063
VI  - 13
IP  - 9
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/13/9/4054.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/13/9/4054.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.1993 Sep 01; 13
AB  - Previous studies have demonstrated that the branched spines of the mossy fiber-CA3 hippocampal synapse contain a particularly large number of polyribosomes (Chicurel and Harris, 1989, 1992). We analyzed a preparation of synaptosomes isolated from this region and have found it to contain a restricted RNA population: certain mRNAs, presumably derived from the dendritic spines and the fine astrocytic processes surrounding the pre- and postsynaptic elements of the synapse, are enriched in the synaptosome preparation as compared to the total hippocampus; other mRNAs are less prevalent or altogether absent. In addition, neural BC1, a small noncoding RNA thought to be involved in pre- or posttranslational regulatory processes in dendrites, is a major RNA component of the dendritic spine. These results support the hypothesis that local translational regulation of gene expression may be important in establishing and modulating synaptic function.