Brimijoin, W. Stephen

Abstract Neurons are about as polarized as cells ever get. Their axonal process can extend a distance that is up to a million times the diameter of the nerve cell body. Axons have none of the ribosomal machinery responsible for protein synthesis, so all neuronal proteins and peptides must be manufactured near the nucleus and carried out to the periphery. This distribution involves at least two distinct mechanisms, fast axonal transport, moving at almost 500 mm per day, and slow axonal transport, moving only 0.1 to 3 mm per day. It turns out that proteins of the neuronal cytoskeleton, along with many soluble cytosolic proteins, are transported exclusively by the slower process.