Survey of intermediate filament proteins in optic nerve and spinal cord: evidence for differential expression.

The distribution of intermediate filament proteins in optic nerve and spinal cord from rat, hamster, goldfish, frog, and newt were analyzed by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. General as well as specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies were reacted against putative intermediate filament proteins. In vitro incubations of excised optic nerve in the presence of [35S]methionine distinguished between neuronal and nonneuronal intermediate filament proteins. The proteins of the intermediate filament complex in the two tissues for rat and hamster were similar. The typical neurofilament triplet and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were observed. Vimentin was more concentrated in the optic nerve than in the spinal cord. The goldfish, newt, and frog contained neurofilament proteins in the 145-150K range and in the 70-85K range. In addition, predominant neurofilament proteins in the 58-62K molecular-weight range were found in all three species. In contrast to mammalian species, the goldfish, newt, and frog displayed extensive heterogeneity between optic nerve and spinal cord in the expression of both neuronal and nonneuronal intermediate filament proteins. The distinctive presence of low-molecular-weight intermediate filament proteins and their high concentration in the optic nerve and spinal cord of these nonmammalian vertebrates is discussed in terms of neuronal development and regeneration.