Rapid synthesis of a glycine-rich protein in the cerebral cortex of the rat during activity.

A glycine-rich protein was previously discovered (Rojik and Fehér, 1976) in the nervous system, which proved to be neuron-specific and in its appearance highly dependent on the actual intensity of neural activity. It was named by us neuragin. Time relations and regulation of neuragin synthesis were examined by the glycine labelling method in the cerebral cortex of the rat. During activation of the somato-sensory area, 2 min stimulation sufficed to provoke the appearance of neuragin in the neurons. The newly synthesised protein persisted in the nerve cells at least for 6 hours after stimulation. Phorbol-12-monoacetate strongly enhanced, sphingosin depressed the synthesis of neuragin. It is concluded, that neuragin is an immediate early gene product, similar to proteins encoded by genes c-fos and c-jun.