Single-Particle Tracking Reveals a Dynamic Role of Actin Filaments in Assisting Long-Range Axonal Transport in Neurons

摘要

Here, we demonstrated that actin filaments mediate axonal transport in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons using fluorescence single-particle tracking. We employed a compartmentalized microfluidic cell culturing chamber that allows depolymerization of actin filaments within an axonal segment. We observed that local actin depolymerization results in a two-fold increase in the average pausing duration, whereas the micro-tubule-dependent instantaneous transport speed is not perturbed. Collectively, our data reveal an important role of actin filaments in assisting microtubule-dependent long-range NGF axonal transport in DRG neurons.