Amazing Video Shows Protein Flow Inside An Individual Neuron

 Neuroscience

Using bioluminescent proteins from a jellyfish, a team of scientists has lit up the inside of a neuron, capturing spectacular video footage that shows the movement of proteins throughout the cell.

Molecular biologists at the University of Southern California have captured video footage of a neuron so finely detailed, it is possible to observe the transport of individual proteins throughout the cell's structure. The video offers a rare look at how proteins, the brain's building blocks, are directed through neurons to renew its structure.

The research is described in the latest issue of Cell Reports.

 "Your brain is being disassembled and reassembled every day," said study co-author Don Arnold in statement. "One week from today, your brain will be made up of completely different proteins than it is today. This video shows the process. We've known that it was happening, but now we can watch it happen."

The new imaging technique was used to cast new light on how proteins are directed to one of the two types of compartments inside the neuron: the axon or the dendrites.

The axon is the region of the cell responsible for transmitting electrical signals to other cells, while the dendrites receive signals from other cells.

"It's been known for many decades that proteins are specifically targeted to one compartment or the other. However, we couldn't understand how the targeting occurs until we could actually watch the proteins traveling to one compartment or to the other," said Sarmad Al-Bassam, USC Ph.D. student and lead author of the Cell Reports article.
Since the mid-1990s, scientists have been able to illuminate the proteins inside of cells, including neurons, by attaching a protein isolated from jellyfish -- known as GFP (green fluorescent protein) -- that fluoresces bright green when exposed to blue light.

The problem with studying the flow of illuminated proteins inside of neurons is that there are several different overlapping pathways within the cell, making it difficult to study the traffic through just one.

Al-Bassam and his colleagues solved this issue by developing a new technique that involves damming up a single pathway, which creates a backlog of transport vesicles (little bubbles that travel up and down neurons carrying membrane protein cargo) impregnated with the illuminated proteins. They then use a small-molecule drug to release the backlog all at once in a bright pulse.

"Our result was very surprising," said Arnold. "We found that rather than being targeted specifically to the dendrites, vesicles carrying proteins initially enter both compartments, but then are stopped and prevented from moving beyond the initial segment of the axon."

SOURCE  Cell Reports via Io9

By 33rd Square

Subscribe to 33rd Square