RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cargo crowding at actin-rich regions along axons causes local traffic jams in neurons
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 151761
DO 10.1101/151761
A1 Parul Sood
A1 Kausalya Murthy
A1 T. Vinod Kumar
A1 Michael L Nonet
A1 Gautam I. Menon
A1 Sandhya P. Koushika
YR 2017
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/06/19/151761.abstract
AB Steady axonal cargo flow is central to the functioning of healthy neurons. However, a substantial fraction of cargo in axons remains stationary across a broad distribution of times. We examine the transport of pre-synaptic vesicles (pre-SVs), endosomes and mitochondria in C. elegans touch receptor neurons (TRNs), showing that stalled cargo are predominantly present at actin-rich regions along the neuronal process. Cargo stalled at actin-rich regions increase the propensity of moving cargo to stall at the same location, resulting in traffic jams. Such local traffic jams at actin-rich regions are likely to be a general feature of axonal transport since they occur in Drosophila neurons as well. These traffic jams can act as both sources and sinks of vesicles. We propose that they act as functional reservoirs that contribute to maintaining robust cargo flow in the neuron.