Effect of aging on the rate of axonal transport of choline-phosphoglycerides

Neurochem Res. 1987 Jan;12(1):61-5. doi: 10.1007/BF00971365.

Abstract

The anterograde axonal transport of choline-phosphoglycerides was studied in sciatic nerve motoneurons of adult (3-month-old) and aged (24-month-old) rats. After the spinal cord injection of [2-3H]glycerol, choline-phosphoglycerides; the major phospholipid class was transported along the nerve. The axonal transport rate was determined by plotting the distance covered by the front of transported radioactivity as a function of the time employed. In aged animals the rate of the choline-phosphoglyceride anterograde axonal transport was about 68% lower than that of adults; furthermore, the rate slowed down along the nerve in the proximal-distal direction. This altered axonal transport mechanism might contribute to the degenerative processes observed in distal regions of peripheral nerve fibers of aged animals.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aging / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Axonal Transport*
  • Glycerol / metabolism
  • Kinetics
  • Male
  • Motor Neurons / metabolism
  • Phosphatidylcholines / metabolism*
  • Phosphatidylethanolamines / metabolism
  • Rats
  • Rats, Inbred Strains
  • Sciatic Nerve / growth & development
  • Sciatic Nerve / metabolism

Substances

  • Phosphatidylcholines
  • Phosphatidylethanolamines
  • Glycerol