In addition to the long-known signalling pathways based on post-translational modifications of downstream targets, a different mechanism linking extracellular stimuli and mRNA translation has recently been discovered in neurons. This mechanism involves the release of ribosomes tethered to cell surface receptors upon axonal guidance cue stimulation, enabling local protein synthesis (LPS). LPS allows rapid and local remodelling of the axonal proteome distant from the cell body, which is essential for axonal survival and neuronal circuit formation. It is currently unknown whether receptor-ribosome coupling is a mechanism unique to a few receptor types, or whether it is used by a broad range of receptors in different cell types. In this project, receptor-ribosome coupling is further investigated in the model Xenopus laevis retinal ganglion cell (RGC) cultures and the existence of the mechanism studied for various receptors in different cell types.
