title: Morphological evidence for a transport of ribosomes from Schwann cells to regenerating axons.
abstract: Recently, we showed that Schwann cells transfer ribosomes to injured axons. Here, we demonstrate that Schwann cells transfer ribosomes to regenerating axons in vivo. For this, we used lentiviral vector-mediated expression of ribosomal protein L4 and eGFP to label ribosomes in Schwann cells. Two approaches were followed. First, we transduced Schwann cells in vivo in the distal trunk of the sciatic nerve after a nerve crush. Seven days after the crush, 12% of regenerating axons contained fluorescent ribosomes. Second, we transduced Schwann cells in vitro that were subsequently injected into an acellular nerve graft that was inserted into the sciatic nerve. Fluorescent ribosomes were detected in regenerating axons up to 8 weeks after graft insertion. Together, these data indicate that regenerating axons receive ribosomes from Schwann cells and, furthermore, that Schwann cells may support local axonal protein synthesis by transferring protein synthetic machinery and mRNAs to these axons.
authors.affiliation: Millennium Nucleus for Regenerative Biology, Faculty of Biology, P. Catholic University of Chile, Chile.
authors.forename: Felipe A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Court
authors.forename: Rajiv
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Midha
authors.forename: Bruno A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Cisterna
authors.forename: Joey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grochmal
authors.forename: Antos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shakhbazau
authors.forename: William T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Hendriks
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Minnen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D001692:Biological Transport / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009409:Nerve Crush / Q000379:methods; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D016900:Neurofilament Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012583:Schwann Cells / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D014161:Transduction, Genetic / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D016900:Neurofilament Proteins; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins