title: Medium weight neurofilament mRNA in goldfish Mauthner axoplasm.
abstract: Although axons are generally considered to lack the ability to synthesize proteins, the Mauthner axon (M-axon) of the goldfish has been reported to contain some of the basic components of the translational machinery, such as transfer RNA (tRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and ribosomes. To determine if the M-axon also contains mRNA, we isolated samples of M-axoplasm free of glial contamination as demonstrated by the absence of glial-specific mRNA and protein. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of M-axoplasmic cDNA in the presence of primers for the goldfish medium-weight neurofilament (NF-M) gene produced a single product of the expected length for RT-PCR amplification of goldfish NF-M mRNA. This mRNA might direct protein synthesis of NF-M within the M-axoplasm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Texas at Austin 78712-1064, USA.
authors.forename: O D
authors.initials: OD
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zorn
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Krieg
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Bittner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001370:Axonal Transport / Q000235:genetics*; D001369:Axons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000235:genetics; D006054:Goldfish / Q000502:physiology*; D015151:Immunoblotting; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D016622:Silver Staining
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C061195:neurofilament protein M