Axonal transport of thiamine in frog sciatic nerves in vitro.

Thiamine has an essential and unknown function in nerve membranes. Administration of thiamine can alleviate symptoms of thiamine deficiency within a few hours. The time course is consistent with a fast axonal transport of the vitamin. Very little is known about axonal transport of low-molecular-weight substances with a preferential localization to the axon membrane. We investigated if labeled thiamine could be transported in the frog sciatic nerve. Radioactivity accumulated proximal to a ligature on the sciatic nerve after supplying the dorsal ganglia with [35S]thiamine in vitro. The accumulation was reduced by inhibition of the energy metabolism with dinitrophenol and by inhibition of protein synthesis in the ganglia with cycloheximide. Vinblastine did not affect the accumulation of thiamine at a concentration which was sufficient to block transport of [3H]leucine-labeled proteins. Accumulation distal to a ligature could be demonstrated in vivo but not in vitro after injecting the gastrocnemius muscle with labeled thiamine. Axonal transport of [3H]leucine-labeled proteins was inhibited by thiamine at millimolar concentrations in the incubation medium. A transient reduction of the compound action potential was obtained at these concentrations. Thiamine was migrating at a fast rate in frog sciatic nerves in both orthograde and retrograde directions. The uptake and/or transport was dependent on energy metabolism and a concomitant protein synthesis. The lack of effect by vinblastine suggests that the transported fraction of thiamine differs in subcellular localization from the bulk of transported [3H]leucine-labeled proteins.