Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Articles

Distribution and phosphorylation of the growth-associated protein GAP- 43 in regenerating sympathetic neurons in culture

KF Meiri, M Willard and MI Johnson
Journal of Neuroscience 1 July 1988, 8 (7) 2571-2581; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.08-07-02571.1988
KF Meiri
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M Willard
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
MI Johnson
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Sympathetic neurons regenerating in culture were studied in order to gain further insight into the intracellular distribution and phosphorylation of GAP-43, a protein that has been suggested to have a role in axonal outgrowth and neuronal plasticity (Willard et al., 1987). Superior cervical ganglion neurons from embryonic rats were highly reactive with a polyclonal antibody against the growth- associated protein GAP-43 soon after they were placed in culture on a laminin substrate. As these neurons extended neurites, the distribution of GAP-43 reactivity changed. The cell body became progressively less reactive, whereas the growth cone at the tip of the growing neurite reacted strongly. The pattern of immunofluorescence was punctate both in the growth cone and the adjacent neurite, but appeared more diffusely distributed in the cell body. The antibody reacted only with cells that had been subjected to treatment that permeabilized the plasma membrane. When antibody was supplied in the medium of growing neurons, it neither bound to the cells nor altered normal neurite initiation or elongation. Of the different types of cells in these cultures, the antibody reacted only with neurons; it did not react with Schwann cells or fibroblasts. The stimulation of protein kinase C in these cultures resulted in a 7-fold stimulation of the phosphorylation of a protein of similar electrophoretic mobility to GAP-43. These observations demonstrate that GAP-43 is neuron-specific, is present throughout the neuron but at higher levels in the growth cone, and is a major substrate of protein kinase C. The high concentration of GAP-43 in the growth cones may necessitate its increased synthesis in neurons with elongating axons. Its location and phosphorylation by kinase C suggest that it could perform a function in the growth cone that is modulated by extracellular signals, such as those used in pathfinding or in the control of axonal elongation.

Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 8 (7)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 8, Issue 7
1 Jul 1988
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Distribution and phosphorylation of the growth-associated protein GAP- 43 in regenerating sympathetic neurons in culture
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Distribution and phosphorylation of the growth-associated protein GAP- 43 in regenerating sympathetic neurons in culture
KF Meiri, M Willard, MI Johnson
Journal of Neuroscience 1 July 1988, 8 (7) 2571-2581; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.08-07-02571.1988

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Distribution and phosphorylation of the growth-associated protein GAP- 43 in regenerating sympathetic neurons in culture
KF Meiri, M Willard, MI Johnson
Journal of Neuroscience 1 July 1988, 8 (7) 2571-2581; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.08-07-02571.1988
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

  • Memory Retrieval Has a Dynamic Influence on the Maintenance Mechanisms That Are Sensitive to ζ-Inhibitory Peptide (ZIP)
  • Neurophysiological Evidence for a Cortical Contribution to the Wakefulness-Related Drive to Breathe Explaining Hypocapnia-Resistant Ventilation in Humans
  • Monomeric Alpha-Synuclein Exerts a Physiological Role on Brain ATP Synthase
Show more Articles
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Follow SFN on BlueSky
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Notice
  • Contact
  • Accessibility
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2025 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.