A temporal variation in nonneuronal protein synthesis in dorsal root ganglia and nerve and its significance to studies of axonal transport.

Protein synthesis and fast axonal transport were studied in vitro using dorsal root ganglia (DRG)-sciatic nerve preparations from the amphibian Xenopus laevis. It was observed that the rate of incorporation of [3H]leucine into protein in DRG and isolated segments of nerve began to increase 9 to 11 h after killing the animal, attaining at 13 to 17 h a maximum of 5- to 10-times preincrease (less than 9 h) values. At the same time as an increase in the rate of incorporation began, synthesis commenced in DRG and nerve exposed to cycloheximide (125 micrograms/ml). Whereas cycloheximide reduced fast axonal transport to 1 to 3% of control values in preparations maintained 20 to 24 h in vitro, cycloheximide reduced incorporation in DRG to only 80% of control values. N-terminal labeling studies showed that both the increased incorporation and cycloheximide-insensitive incorporation resulted from protein synthesis. Autoradiographic and incorporation studies indicated that nonneuronal cells situated in the ganglion capsule and perineural sheath of the nerve were responsible for both the increased incorporation and cycloheximide-insensitive synthesis. The findings have implications for the study of axonal transport.