Differential intracellular sorting of immediate early gene mRNAs depends on signals in the mRNA sequence

This study characterizes the differential targeting of recently synthesized immediate early gene (IEG) mRNAs to neuronal cell bodies versus dendrites and tests the hypothesis that this targeting is based on signals in the encoded proteins. A single electroconvulsive seizure induces the expression of a number of IEG mRNAs in granule cells of the dentate gyrus. Most of these IEG mRNAs remain in the cell body, including two that are characterized in the present study (the mRNAs for NGFI-A and COX-2). In contrast, the mRNA for Arc moved rapidly into dendrites at an apparent rate of ~300 μm/hr. Inhibiting protein synthesis with cycloheximide did not disrupt the differential mRNA sorting, demonstrating that the differential targeting of mRNAs is not dependent on translation.