An autoradiographic study of the flow of protein and RNA along peripheral nerve.

Both chicken spinal cord and the posterior chamber of the rat eye have been injected with either [3H]leucine or [3H]orotic acid. The movement of newly synthesized protein and RNA down the sciatic and optic nerves was followed by means of autoradiography. Protein moved down both nerves by axoplasmic flow, the protein being confined to intra-axonal spaces. RNA appeared to move at about the same rate as protein, but much of the newly formed RNA appeared in structures outside the axons, particularly in Schwann and glial cells. There was, however a considerable proportion of the RNA inside the axons. This RNA may be involved in the direction of protein synthesis at sites along the axonal processes.