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Neurons: The Axon

Neurons: The Axon

Axons are long, cytoplasmic processes of nerve cells capable of propagating electrical impulses known as action potentials. The cytoplasm or axoplasm of an axon contains neurofibrils, neurotubules, small vesicles, lysosomes, mitochondria, and various enzymes, all encased within the axolemma, the plasma membrane of the axon.
The axon attaches to the cell body at a cone-shaped elevation called the axon hillock. The initial part of the axon, closest to the hillock, is known as the initial segment....

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 27, 2025

Expanding the Toolkit for In Vivo Imaging of Axonal Transport

Expanding the Toolkit for In Vivo Imaging of Axonal Transport

Published on: December 23, 2021

Imaging Diversity in Slow Axonal Transport.

Archan Ganguly¹, Subhojit Roy²

¹Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA. archan_ganguly@urmc.rochester.edu.

Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.)

|April 12, 2022

Summary

Researchers visualized slow axonal transport using photoactivatable probes, revealing distinct protein movement patterns that challenge previous models of cohesive co-transport for these essential neuronal proteins.

Keywords:

Actin Clathrin Cytosolic proteins PAGFP Photoactivation Slow axonal transport Soluble proteins Synapsin

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Measuring Axonal Cargo Transport in Mouse Primary Cortical Cultured Neurons

Measuring Axonal Cargo Transport in Mouse Primary Cortical Cultured Neurons

Published on: February 24, 2023

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cell Biology
Molecular Biology

Background:

Neuronal function relies on axonal transport for delivering proteins synthesized in the soma to synapses.
Classic radiolabeling studies identified fast and slow components of axonal transport, suggesting cohesive co-transport for slow cargoes.
Limitations in visualizing dynamic processes hindered mechanistic understanding of slow axonal transport.

Purpose of the Study:

To visualize and analyze the real-time transport of individual cytosolic proteins within the slow component of axonal transport.
To challenge the prevailing hypothesis of uniform macromolecular complex movement for all slow-transport proteins.
To detail protocols for imaging and analyzing slow axonal transport using photoactivatable probes.

Main Methods:

Utilized photoactivatable fluorescent probes to tag three distinct cytosolic proteins.
Employed real-time imaging techniques to track protein movement along axons of cultured hippocampal neurons.
Developed methods for analyzing the distinct modes of axonal transport observed.

Main Results:

Identified three distinct modes of transport for individual slow-component cytosolic proteins.
Demonstrated that slow axonal transport is not a single cohesive co-transport process for all cargoes.
Provided evidence against the hypothesis of a single large macromolecular complex for slow transport.

Conclusions:

The movement of slow-component proteins along axons is more complex and heterogeneous than previously assumed.
Photoactivatable probes offer a powerful tool for dissecting the mechanisms of axonal transport.
This study provides new insights into the dynamic nature of protein delivery essential for neuronal communication.