Transport of RNA along the optic pathway of the chick: an autoradiographic study.

Autoradiograms of the optic tectum were made 8 days after monocular injection of 3H-uridine in 3 day-old chicks. Electron microscopic analysis of grain density over morphological structures in various layers of the optic tectum contralateral to the injected eye, was carried out. This revealed that the highest concentration of labeled RNA was within the axons of the more superficial layers of the tectum. A lesser density of grains was observed over glial cells, neuronal perikarya and dendrites. In addition, the bulk of the total grains counted were over axons. In lower tectal layers, radioactivity was predominantly over unmyelinated axons and glial elements. High molecular weight RNA appears to be transported within the axons of the optic nerve toward their terminations which are largely in the outer layer of the optic tract.