PROXIMO-DISTAL TRANSPORT OF [14C]NOR-ADRENALINE AND PROTEIN IN SYMPATHETIC NERVES

Abstract— —Both [¹⁴C]noradrenaline and [¹⁴C]leucine were injected into the coeliac ganglia of cats in an attempt to label the noradrenaline and protein of the granular vesicles, so that their movement in the splenic nerves could be followed.
When a constriction was placed on the nerves, labelled noradrenaline and protein accumulated just proximal to it, but there was no such accumulation below it, nor above a second, more distal constriction placed on the same nerve. This indicated that a neural transport mechanism, rather than uptake from the circulation, was responsible for the accumulation.
Peaks of labelled noradrenaline and protein were observed to move down the axon at about 5 mm/hr. In addition a slow moving component of axonal protein, advancing at about 1 mm/day, was detected.
The results demonstrate a rapid proximo-distal movement of noradrenaline and protein which could represent the transport of granular synaptic vesicles from their site of manufacture in the cell body to their site of storage in the nerve terminals within the spleen.