Novel protein synthesis in the brain has been suggested to contribute to the formation of synapses and neural circuits during development and the modulation of long-term synaptic plasticity through life. However, cellular and subcellular distribution of neuronal translation machinery and regulator molecules has not yet been extensively characterized in rat brain. In this report, the distribution of translation factors in the developing hippocampus, a region which is highly plastic, was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Western blot analysis revealed that the hippocampus expresses the factors in all three steps of translation, initiation factors, elongation factors and a release factor. Immunochemical studies of hippocampal slices and culture showed that all translation factors were observed not only in cell bodies but also in dendrites of hippocampal neurons. In addition, the levels of the individual translation factors differed between hippocampal subregions. The differential distribution of translation factors was also confirmed by Western blotting. These results suggest that regulated protein synthesis occurs in the hippocampus, with differences existing between different subregions such as CA1, CA3 and dentate gyrus.